I needed to make this post, because tumblr really does not seem to know anything about what is happening in my country.
Let me put it on scale for you - Hurricane Katrina, which ravaged Louisiana, was at a Cateogry 5 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane scale. This is the absolute worst a hurricane can be, with sustained winds reaching 157+ mph.
Right now in the Bahamas, we have a Category 4 hurricane - nearly as bad as Hurricane Katrina, if not worse considering the conditions we are living in right now with an impossible high tidal surge and deadly flooding. What’s even worse is that it is not moving (< 3 mph). That means for almost two whole days, this hurricane has been sitting ON TOP of my country NOT MOVING and destroying houses. No warning was issued prior to the hurricane, it literally grew overnight and most of the people who live in these outer islands (poor families who make a living fishing, carving bark, plaiting straw) had zero time to prepare. We do not know what the death count is - we lost all communication with most of these islands between the hours of 12 midnight and 4 this morning, and it is too dangerous for rescue teams.
Houses have been flattened or carried out to sea. There are now potential uninhabited cays and islands where there once were communities. And this nightmare isn’t over - it’s heading up to the Northern islands now, where there are a lot of elderly people unable to care for themselves and NO clinics, hospitals, or higherground.
Please, please, please spread the word about this. We will be trying to put together a GoFundMe soon, and I will have that link to share as soon as it becomes available.
for more information on the storm: http://www.tribune242.com/news/2015/oct/02/joaquin-becomes-tenth-named-tropical-storm-atlanti/
