The Latest: Bahamas mortuaries overwhelmed after Dorian

By Associated Press 11 September 2019, 12:00AM

NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) — The Latest on Hurricane Dorian and the Bahamas (all times local):

9:15 a.m.

Caribbean emergency officials say mortuary facilities on the Bahamian island of New Providence are "overwhelmed" as workers store bodies of victims of Hurricane Dorian.

The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency says bodies are being placed in body bags and stored in refrigerated containers as "a temporary measure."

The Bahamian government says at least 50 people died and that the death toll is expected to rise.

The Caribbean disaster agency says "environmental health concerns" in northern islands ravaged by the hurricane have increased and that there is a stench from dead animals and possibly human bodies.

The agency also said Monday that six shelters on New Providence are packed with 1,675 people who were evacuated from Abaco and Grand Bahama islands. It says other evacuees are sheltering with family and friends on other islands.

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9 a.m.

The government in the Bahamas says the death toll from Hurricane Dorian has risen to at least 50.

Health Minister Duane Sands on Tuesday confirmed the increase in the death toll in a message to The Associated Press.

Authorities say they expect to find more bodies as they search through debris in devastated areas of the northern Bahamas.

Members of the Gainesville, Florida, fire department found five bodies Monday in the destroyed neighborhood known as The Mudd, the Bahamas' largest Haitian immigrant community.

Dorian is blamed for at least seven other deaths in the Southeast U.S. and Puerto Rico.

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3 a.m.

Thousands of hurricane survivors are filing off boats and planes in the capital of the Bahamas, facing the need to start new lives after Hurricane Dorian but with little ideas on how or where to begin.

Some sit in hotel lobbies as they debate their next steps. Others have been bused to shelters jammed to capacity. Some got rides from friends or family who offered a temporary place to stay on New Providence, which holds the capital, Nassau.

The government has estimated that up to 10,000 people from the Abaco islands alone will need food, water and temporary housing as officials consider setting up tent or container cities while they clear the country's ravaged northern region of debris so people can eventually return.

By Associated Press 11 September 2019, 12:00AM
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