Hurricane Joaquin – Bahamas Oct 2015

01.10.2015

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:

  • The Bahamas Department of Meteorology has published Alert #17 on Hurricane Joaquin. (source)
  • All schools have been closed throughout the Bahamas until further notice. (source)
  • Bahamasair has cancelled all flights to Southern and Central Bahamas. (source)

Oct 1:

  • Major flooding has been reported in Exuma, Long Island, Cat Island,  Eleuthera, and Acklins Island.  The most severe flooding reported has been on Acklins, where power went off overnight limiting phone and Internet access.  As many as 10 persons were trapped on Samana Cay on Thursday without proper shelter or communication. (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)
  • Crooked Island reportedly has experienced heavy flooding, and power lines are down. (source)

Localities

Islands of the Bahamas

Island’s name

Capital (or largest settlement)

Population

Area (km²)

Acklins

Spring Point[16]

560

492

Abaco

Marsh Harbour[17]

16,692

1,681

Andros

Andros Town

7,386

5,957

the Berry Islands

Nicholls Town

798

31

Bimini

Alice Town[18]

2,008

23

Cat Island

Arthur’s Town[19]

1,503

23

Crooked Island

Colonel Hill[20]

323

241

Eleuthera

Governor’s Harbour[21]

9,363

518

Grand Bahama

Freeport City[22]

51,756

1,373

Inagua

Matthew Town[23]

911

1,679

Long Island

Clarence Town[24]

3,024

596

Mayaguana

Abraham’s Bay[25]

271

285

New Providence

Nassau

248,948

207

Ragged

Duncan Town[26]

70

36

Rum Cay

Port Nelson

99

78

San Salvador

Cockburn Town[27]

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:

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: