CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Bahamas native Patrick Stewart said he is devastated at what hurricane Dorian has done to his home on the Island of Great Abaco.
Stewart, who was born in Nassau, Bahamas, has lived in downtown Charlottetown for three months a year for the past 12 years and could only watch helplessly on Sunday as Dorian, one of the strongest Atlantic storms ever reported, slammed into the islands with winds that reached almost 300 km/h.
“I’m numb, I’m just numb,’’ Stewart told The Guardian in a hushed voice on Wednesday as he watched aerial footage on his Ipad of the aftermath of what the storm had done to Abaco.
Stewart’s son lives in the Bahamas. Stewart knows he’s OK but that’s about it.
“We heard from my son two days ago but we haven’t heard from him since. All the phones are down, but we know he’s OK. He lasted the main part of the storm (and) he was able to get online for a brief period.’’
Stewart runs a beach bar business on the coast of Abaco.
“I don't know if it’s still standing. I’m waiting to find out,’’ he said as he watched more aerial footage on his device. “So, far it seems like we’ve lost about 80 per cent of the houses. Things are still under water, and the storm is just letting up now. I can’t imagine what they’ve been through.’’
Stewart has experience living through some pretty bad hurricanes, including a category 5 storm in 1999.
“It wasn’t even close to this one. I’ve lived through many storms. It’s not fun. We’ve rebuilt a few times.’’
Stewart is making plans to go down and help out but he’s waiting for Dorian to pass through P.E.I. first, and that’s expected to happen late Saturday into Sunday, although what P.E.I. gets will pale in comparison. The province is expecting wind gusts of 80 to 90 km/h for about 12 hours late Saturday into Sunday morning.
“I can’t lose two of my homes at once,’’ he chuckles.
Stewart will be travelling to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Staging areas have been set up through the state where food, water and generators are being assembled, ready to go when people can get into the Bahamas again.
“They’ve been through hell and they’re still going through hell,’’ he said.
One woman, who spoke to The Guardian on Twitter, said her aunt and uncle are on Grand Bahama Island, but she's had trouble getting in touch with them.
Candace Toma (@c_woodside) said she got word late Wednesday afternoon on Facebook that they were OK.
"Last hurricane season, they were without power for three weeks,'' Toma said. "It may be worse this time around. I have reached out to family there and have not had a response, (but) this isn't uncommon during these storm seasons. But this is by far the worst.
"I've been avoiding imagery of the devastation due to concerns for their well-being.''
Meanwhile, Shelterbox Canada, an international disaster relief agency, is asking people for donations that will be used to pay to send shelterboxes to people in the Bahamas.
Derek Nicholson, P.E.I.’s ambassador with Shelterbox Canada, says each shelterbox contains a tent, stove, blankets, mosquito nets, water filtration, hammer, saw, wire and nails.
“We go into countries by invitation with local rotary clubs right around the world,’’ Nicholson said from his Montague office. “We kind of partner together so Shelterbox teams and rotary people on the ground will assess what the need is and they’ll send in shelterboxes.’’
Nicholson said Islanders can make donations in one of two ways — either directly to Shelterbox Canada or through their local rotary club.
Need to know
- Shelterbox Canada is accepting donations directly or through local rotary clubs to send shelterboxes to the Bahamas
- These boxes contain a tent, stove, blankets, mosquito nets, water filtration, hammer, saw, wire and nails
- Make a donation to Shelterbox Canada at www.shelterboxcanada.org
- Email Shelterbox Canada at [email protected]
