Hurricane Dorian vs. the Bahamas: How these popular destinations fared against the storm

Despite being downgraded to a Category 2 hurricane, Dorian continued to beat up on Grand Bahama and the Abaco Islands in the form of storm surges Tuesday.

At least seven people have been killed and an estimated 13,000 homes destroyed.

The airport serving Grand Bahama and and two airports that serve the Abacos Islands remain closed, according to a bulletin from the Ministry of Tourism Aviation and the flight-tracking site FlightAware.com.

Residents and businesses have only begun to assess the extent of damage in a country where the tourism industry accounts for 60% of the gross domestic product, the most of any Caribbean nation, per a study from the Inter-American Development Bank, which supports Latin American and Caribbean economic development through lending.

Here is a preliminary look at how popular Bahamas tourist destinations weathered the storm.

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Nassau and Paradise Island

The Ministry of Tourism Aviation said an all-clear has been given for New Providence Island, home to the capital city of Nassau, as well as Paradise Island, which lies to its north. That said, the agency said flooding and power outages persist in parts of Nassau.

Atlantis Paradise Island, a resort that lies somewhat inland, reported via tweet Sunday that it was not in storm’s path: “Our guests, the marine animals in our care and our team members are all safe and secure.”

Baha Mar, another mega resort located on the north shore of the island, reported via its website that it, too, had been spared and is “open and fully operational.”

Warwick Paradise Island, an adults-only all-inclusive resort near the southwest shore of the same island, also reported via its Instagram page Sunday night that it had sustained no damage from the storm.

Airport status:Lynden Pindling International Airport (NAS), the airport serving Nassau, was open Tuesday, according to its website. However, an alert posted on its homepage stated, “There have been significant flight cancellations and as such, travelers are asked to contact their respective airlines for further updates.” It also said phone service at the airport had been “intermittent.”

Port status: Nassau’s ports are open and fully operational, the tourism ministry said.

Private cruise ship islands

CocoCay: Royal Caribbean, which closed its private island last week, says it has decided against reopening Wednesday.

Instead, the cruise line said that it will send a team to the island, located 6 miles northwest of Great Harbour Cay, to assess the damage since it could not fully ascertain the scope of the damage based on webcam surveillance footage.

“Currently, our hope is to be up and running on Saturday, Sept. 7, but we won’t really know if it’s ready for normal operation until the entire island is assessed. In the meantime, we’ve secured alternative ports for some of our sailings.”

Castaway Cay: On Tuesday, Disney Cruise Line responded amid criticism of its decision not to evacuate staffers from Castaway Cay, its private island located 30 miles west of Great Abaco, as Dorian approached.

In a statement posted to its website, the company said its island was not as badly hit as expected and that staffers had returned to the resort after spending several hours at a storm shelter. However, the company has not said when it plans to reopen Castaway Cay to cruise-ship traffic.

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Out Islands

According to the Ministry of Tourism, Eleuthera, which lies east of Nassau, has also been given the all-clear. The same goes for Andros Island, to the west.

Meanwhile, the following islands have been largely unaffected so far: the Exumas, Cat Island, San Salvador, Rum Cay, Long Island, Acklins/Crooked Island, Ragged Island, Mayaguana and Inagua.

The Ministry of Tourism’s bulletin also noted many hotels on the Out Islands traditionally close for the fall season after Labor Day and instructed people staying there to check with their hotel directly.

Grand Bahama Island

A floating shipping container and trees partly submerged in water are some of the images emerging on Monday from Freeport, Bahamas. (Sept. 2)
AP, AP

The country’s northernmost island, located less than 100 miles east of West Palm Beach, Florida, suffered prolonged exposure to the storm’s eyewall and sustained winds as high as 180 miles per hour before it finally began moving northwest toward the Florida coast on Tuesday.

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Grand Lucayan Resort, located on the southwest coast of Grand Bahamas closed over the weekend and will remain so until further notice, according to its Instagram page. Representatives did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s request about whether the resort sustained any damage.

Airport status: Grand Bahama International Airport (FPO), the country’s northernmost air transportation hub, was under several feet of water Monday and remained into Wednesday.

Port status: Freeport Harbour is closed, the tourism ministry said.

Abaco Islands

Hurricane Dorian came to a catastrophic daylong halt over the northwest Bahamas, flooding the islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama with walls of water. The storm was reduced to a Category 3 early Tuesday with top sustained winds of 120 mph. (Sept. 3)
AP, AP

Five people were killed in these northern Bahamian islands, which include Great Abaco, Little Abaco and dozens of small barrier cays (including Disney’s Castaway Cay).

Because Dorian’s rains continued to pelt the Abacos until Monday, Bahamas officials said they have been unable to reach the smaller islands to get a full idea of the damage.

Airport status: Marsh Harbour Airport (MHH) and Treasure Cay International Airport (TCB) remain closed.

Hurricane chaser Josh Morgerman, whose TV show “Hurricane Man” premieres Sept. 15 on the Science Channel, has been documenting Dorian’s destruction. In a Tuesday tweet, he called the situation on Abacos “an absolute catastrophe,” noting that he’d witnessed “whole neighborhoods were swept by mighty surge higher than anything in memory.”

He added, “Areas above water had catastrophic wind damage. Many deaths reported from drowning, flying debris, collapsing houses. Medical clinic overwhelmed.”

Whole neighborhoods were swept by mighty surge higher than anything in memory. Areas above water had catastrophic wind damage. Many deaths reported from drowning, flying debris, collapsing houses. Medical clinic overwhelmed. An absolute catastrophe. SEND HELP TO ABACO ISLANDS.

— Josh Morgerman (@iCyclone) September 3, 2019

Morgerman said he thought he’d played it safe by “riding it out in a solid-concrete school on a hill in Marsh Harbour,” located on the east coast of Great Abaco.

Alas, he thought wrong: “Winds pounded the building with the force of a thousand sledgehammers,” he wrote. “Crept out during eye to find school mostly destroyed, cars in parking lot thrown around mutilated.”

Morgerman, who said he was heading back to Abaco Wednesday, added that Dorian had given him the “lowest pressure I’ve ever measured: a whopping 913.4 mb in the eye.”

What next?

It’s still too soon to know the financial toll of Dorian, the impact of which Prime Minister Hubert Minnis has called “unprecedented and extensive.”

The country has about three months before the tourism’s high season arrives in December. It’s unclear how long it will be before the Abacos and Grand Bahama are back to normal.