Hurricane Joaquin began crossing the Bahamas on September 30, 2015 as a Category 3 hurricane. On October 1, it was upgraded to a Category 4 at 2:00pm local time while over the Bahamas (source). It is the first Cat 4 hurricane to track through the Bahamas in October in 149 years (1866). (source)
- Hurricane-Joaquin-Bahamas-Situation-Report-No-1.pdf
Hurricane Joaquin – The Bahamas
Situation Report – (period covered: October 1-2, 2015) Prepared by: Humanity Road / Animals in Disaster Follow: @Humanityroad / @Disasteranimals / @jAidDog |
Situation Overview |
Background: Hurricane Joaquin began crossing the Bahamas on September 30, 2015 as a Category 3 hurricane. On October 1, it was upgraded to a Category 4 at 2:00pm local time while over the Bahamas (source). It is the first Cat 4 hurricane to track through the Bahamas in October in 149 years (1866). (source) Highlights: Oct 2:
Oct 1:
|
Localities
Island’s name |
Capital (or largest settlement) |
Population |
Area (km²) |
560 |
492 |
||
16,692 |
1,681 |
||
7,386 |
5,957 |
||
798 |
31 |
||
2,008 |
23 |
||
1,503 |
23 |
||
323 |
241 |
||
9,363 |
518 |
||
51,756 |
1,373 |
||
911 |
1,679 |
||
3,024 |
596 |
||
271 |
285 |
||
248,948 |
207 |
||
70 |
36 |
||
99 |
78 |
||
930 |
163 |
Rum Cay – Rum Cay is an island and district of the Bahamas. It measures 30 square miles in area, it is located at Lat.: N23 42′ 30″ – Long.: W 74 50′ 00″. It has many rolling hills that rise to about 120 feet. The island is believed to have acquired its modern name from a shipwrecked cargo of rum. The main settlement is Port Nelson. Its population was recorded as 30 as of 2013. Before 1996 the island was part of a combined district of San Salvador and Rum Cay.
Samana Cay is the largest now uninhabited island in the Bahamas, believed by some researchers to have been the location of Columbus’s first landfall in the Americas, on October 12, 1492.
Long Island – Long Island is an island in the Bahamas that is split by the Tropic of Cancer. Its capital is Clarence Town. Long Island is one of the Districts of the Bahamas and is known as the most scenic island in the Bahamas.
Acklins and Crooked Island – Acklins is an island and district of the Bahamas. It is one of a group of islands arranged along a large, shallow lagoon called the Bight of Acklins Acklins & Crooked Island, of which the largest are Crooked Island in the north and Acklins in the southeast, and the smaller are Long Cay in the northwest, and Castle Island in the south. Acklins & Crooked Island are almost as natural as they were when The Bahamas was first discovered. Both islands are a haven for bonefishing, snorkeling and diving and miles of undisturbed sandy beaches, coral gardens, limestone caves, magnificent cliffs and even remnants of slave and cotton plantations.
Emergency Numbers
For emergencies, including medical emergencies, call 911 or 919.
Government Contacts
Bahamas:
- Alert #17 – Joaquin, Oct 2
- Alert #9 – Joaquin Oct 1
- Schools Sept 30
Tel. (242)-322-6081/5, Fax. (242)-326-5456
Email. Facebook
Oct 1 – NEMA Report on situation in islands
- Oct 1 – All public schools on the island of Grand Bahama have been DISMISSED, effectively immediately. We are requesting that parents/ guardians ensure that children are picked up from school. Special consideration has been given to this island, due to the fact that the police have recently announced the closure of the FISHING HOLE ROAD.
- All schools on Exuma, Cat Island, San Salvador, Rum Cay, and Eleuthera were closed on Sep 30.
- The College of The Bahamas will be closed today, Friday, 2nd October, 2015. However, essential services are to report to campus including Senior Team, Emergency Management Team, Security and Physical Plant staff. The College will advise when it will resume operations. Additionally, SAT Exams that were scheduled for Saturday, October 3rd are cancelled, an announcement for a make-up date will be made available as soon as possible.
Embassy of the United States • Nassau – Bahamas –
- Emergency Message to alert U.S. citizens to the development and progress of Hurricane Joaquin – http://nassau.usembassy.gov/messages-for-us-citizens.html
- In case of emergencies involving the death, injury, welfare, or arrest of an American citizen in The Bahamas or the Turks and Caicos Islands, please call (242) 322-1181, ext. 4406, 4547 or 4584 during business hours, or 242-322-1181 or 242-357-7004 at all other times. (Please note that the Duty Officer who answers this number will not be able to assist with visa or routine passport matters.)
Urgent Needs
Acklins Island:
- “The most severe flooding reported so far was on Acklins island, where power went off overnight and phones were down. Russell said some of the roughly 565 people who live there were trapped in their homes.” (source)
- Unconfirmed report on twitter of a woman needing rescue (source).
- Unconfirmed report on twitter that a house is gone and people are dead (source).
- There are reports of houses flooded and damaged in Lovely Bay, Acklins Island. A bridge that connects settlements is also underwater. There is also reportedly no shelter on Samana Cay (source)
Samana Cay:
- “As many as 10 persons were trapped on Samana Cay on Thursday without proper shelter or communication. (source)
Shelters
Oct 2:
Updated list of hurricane shelters (source) (open link for full list of all islands)
- ACKLINS, CROOKED ISLAND & LONG CAY
North Acklins Shelter
St. Paul’s Baptist Church
Church of God of Prophecy
Zion Ebenezer Baptist Church
Good Samaritan Church
Command Center – Administrator’s Office
Oct 1:
List of hurricane shelters (source)
Communications
Status Reports:
- Oct 1 – BTC’s Command Center is opened at its National Network Operations Center where it is currently monitoring Hurricane Joaquin. BTC advises that it remains in contact with all of the Family Islands. Reports from our Family Islands indicate that services have not been affected in most areas, at this time. However, due to commercial power failure on some islands, there are minor outages in several areas which are actively being addressed by our technical teams. These areas include:
- Williams Town, Exuma where there is a mobile outage and our technical teams are en-route to the mobile site to make the necessary repairs. We intend to have services restored within the hour.
- Landline and internet services are affected in the Sandy Point, San-Salvador community due to a loss of commercial power last evening.
- There is also a small mobile outage in the Pompey Bay and Spring Point areas of Acklins.
- Our team is assessing the damage in both San Salvador and Acklins Islands and will make the necessary repairs once the all clear is provided.
We are asking the public to report any additional concerns or issues directly to BTC, by calling us toll free at CALL-BTC or 225-5282. Customers may also reach out to us on social media. (source)
Communications Companies:
- BTC Bahamas (http://www.btcbahamas.com/) mobile, internet, landline. Tel: 242-225-5282, Facebook
- Coralwave (www.coralwave.com), cable, direct fibre.
- Batelnet (www.batelnet.bs), dial up, DSL. Tel: 242-CALL-BTC (225-5282)
- DSL Bahamas (www.dslbahamas.com), DSL. Tel: (242) 328-0048.
- BGC (www.bgcbahamas.com), wireless. Tel: (242) 397 2400
- Out Island Internet (www.abacoinet.com), dial up, wireless. Tel: (242) 367-3006, (242) 367-3839, Email: source)
Photos and Videos
Oct 2:
Oct 1:
- Video – flooding on Crooked Island
- Video – Crooked Island
- Video – Wind storm surge crooked island
- Video – flooding on Long Island
- Video – roads in Steventon, Exuma
- Photo – flooding in Exuma
- Photo – flooding in Exuma
- Photos – damage on Crooked Island
Twitter Accounts
FaceBook Accounts
Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology – Bahamas
National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA)
Public Group for Hurricane Joaquin
Hashtags
#Joaquin, #hurricane, #HurricaneJoaquin
#Bahamas
#Acklins
Traditional Media and Blogs
Transportation and Infrastructure
Oct 2 Status
11:59am –
- Two international flights from Miami and flights from elsewhere in the Caribbean have been cancelled due to Hurricane Joaquin. These include American Airlines flights 4422 and 4232 from Miami, Inter Caribbean flight 272/273, and Caribbean Airlines flight 414/415. Delta, JetBlue, British Airways, Air Canada, WestJet and Cubana have not cancelled and will arrive at their scheduled times.
- Bahamasair, Sky Bahamas, Leair and Southern Air have cancelled all flights to the Central and Southern Bahamas due to the hurricane. Pineapple Air and Southern Air have c
:
- LPIA Airport is open and operational (source).
- Bahamasair has cancelled all flights to Southern and Central Bahamas. (source)
- Bahamasair
- Spring Point Airport, Acklins, Phone: (242) 344-3169, (242) 702-4140, (800) 222-4262
- Crooked Island Airport, Crooked Island, Phone: (242) 344-2357, 702-4140, (800) 222-4262, Fax: (242) 344-2321
- Weekly mailboat service from Nassau into Spring Point, Acklins; Colonel Hill, Crooked Island; and Long Cay – M/V Sea Spirit I and M/V Sea Spirit II – Carib Ship Lines – Potter’s Cay Dock, Nassau, Phone: (242) 341-3468
- Marine Traffic – Real time vessel positions and port arrivals tracking based on AIS data.
- #DisneyMagic diverted to #KeyWest due to #HurricaneJoaquin.
- Carnival Pride will skip a call at Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas and stay at sea, source
- Carnival Valor, will also will skip a port call Thur at Grand Turk, and stay at sea. source
Maps and Situational Awareness Reports
New York Times Hurricane Joaquin Interactive Map
Reference map for the Islands of the Bahamas
Weather Reports
- WTVR’s interactive radar – http://wtvr.com/weather/maps-and-radar/interactive-radar/
- The Weather Channel – Hurricane Central – http://www.weather.com/storms/hurricane
- NOAA/NWS National Hurricane Center (NHC): Hurricane Joaquin – official information about the storm itself, as a weather phenomenon – http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_at1.shtml?5-daynl#contents
- NOAA Tides & Currents Predictions – http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/tide_predictions.html
Public Health and Medical
New Providence
- Kelso Medical Laboratory – closed October 2 (source)
- Princess Margaret Hospital, Nassau +1 242-322-2481 Facebook
- Doctors Hospital Nassau +1 242-302-4600 Bahamas Facebook
- Bahamas Medical Center +1 242-302-4710 Twitter Facebook
Freeport
- Rand Memorial Hospital (242)350-6700 Website
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