Officials in the hurricane-ravaged Bahamas urged residents on Monday to grab hammers and flotation devices in case floodwaters trap them in their attics and they have to smash their way out.
Commonwealth officials said they received a “tremendous” amount of calls from Bahamians trapped in their flooded homes as Hurricane Dorian continues to pound the islands with heavy rain, driving winds and 23-foot storm surges.
“We simply cannot get to you,” Police Chief Samuel Butler told radio station ZNS.
Red Cross officials said as many as 13,000 homes had been damaged or destroyed by the storms, which ravaged the Abaco Islands on Sunday and moved to Grand Bahama Island on Monday.
Video shared on social media by Bahamian journalist Travis Carroll shows waves lapping at the eaves of a house as the camera-person huddles in an attic crawl space.
Foreign Minister Darren Henfield said officials have not been able to assess the extent of the damage because even rescue workers have been stranded by the storm.
But multiple postings on social media and sources on the island confirm that many residents have become trapped by rapidly rising floodwaters that have already taken the life of a 7-year-old boy — the only confirmed death from the storm so far.
With Post wires