IN the Abacos, the USCG has been there doing search and evac by helicopter as soon as they were able to get there. BahamasAir has been flying in and evacuating survivors to Eleuthera and Nassau for the past few days. Ferry service started today to evacuated more to Nassau. It's going to take awhile, though. Meanwhile, there are several humanitarian aid organizations with boots on the ground with food, water, desalinization plants, medicine, and other supplies until they can get the survivors relocated. The Bahamian military moved in and are trying to keep the peace.
On Grand Bahama Island / Freeport a small cruise ship came in with aid workers, medical personel, food, supplies, and Bahamians who were stranded in the US during the storm who wanted to get back and survey the damage to their property. They took 1100 Bahamians back to Palm Beach who were met by local charities, including one made of Bahamians who are legal residents in the area. There is a large Bahamian population there who will be happy to take them in. The cruise ship could have taken 1900 passengers, but they were limited to only those who had valid passports with a US visa, so these are people who already had a legal way to visit the US. There are cruise ships making stops there to offload 10 - 20k meals at a time instead of making another regularly scheduled port of call. A ship from the Royal Bahamian Navy and the Royal Bahamian Defense Forces arrived this morning to unload hundreds of boxes of supplies from USAID. On the side of every box "USAID US Aid from the American People."
It appears to me that parts of the Abacos are being ignored and Freeport is getting most of the attention. Lots of dead bodies are not in the official count, and heartbreaking stories abound.
