Bahama Reports

Information out of the Bahamas is pretty sketchy right now. That’s what happens when most of an island’s infrastructure is scrubbed by a Cat 5 hurricane that refuses to leave.

By now everyone’s seen the aerial views of the devastation. There’s been some footage from people on the ground. One of the things that stuck out for me was the complete destruction of the airport. That’s definitely slowing down relief efforts.

With limited hard and verified information coming out of the islands it’s difficult to know what’s really going on. Rumors and wild stories fill the news gap. Two big rumors really caught my attention.

The first one is that of armed looters. There are stories of armed gangs taking what they want. It’s said that they have even taken over the few houses that are still standing and kicked their owners out at gunpoint. The second rumor is that the death toll is considerable higher than official numbers. So what do I think of these rumors?

Personally, I’ve doubts about the armed looters. That’s not to say they don’t exist, but my guess is that the problem is overblown. The rumor mill inflates reports of violence. From the few reports I’ve observed it seems like a situation where everyone hears something from someone else. First person reports appear to be lacking. I’m really hoping that will turn out to be the case.

As for the second rumor, I fear that might be right. It’s said that the islands smell of death. People in the news reports were reporting the death of loved ones and could show where the bodies are. Considering the flooding and wind conditions, many bodies could have been washed out to sea. This is bad.

One good thing about the Bahamas is that it consists of over 700 islands and most of them had only minor impacts. There are places in the country for people to go that are perfectly fine. Another good thing is that it’s a fairly well off country with a good standard of living. This is no third world hell hole. I hope their recovery is swift and suffering limited.

-Sixbears