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Photos show the mangled airplanes and buildings at Grand Bahama airport that Hurricane Dorian left behind
Photos show the mangled airplanes and buildings at Grand Bahama airport that Hurricane Dorian left behind
David SlotnickSep 6, 2019, 00:51 IST
Ramon Espinosa/AP
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Images from the Bahamas show the severe damage Hurricane Dorian caused to the airports that sat in the storm's path.
Debris littered the airfield of Grand Bahama International Airport, while small airplanes parked at the airport were ripped apart by 185 mph winds, which battered Grand Bahama and the Abacos Islands from Sunday to Tuesday.
At least seven people have died as a result of the storm.
As Hurricane Dorian bears down on the United States, images of sheer destruction have begun to emerge from the Bahamas, where the storm wrought record-breaking winds and brutal rainfall on Sunday Monday.
The worst of the storm only impacted a small part of the Bahamas - a nation made up of more than 700 islands - but the areas that were hit faced "generational devastation," Bahamian Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said.
Grand Bahama Island was more than 60% underwater as of midday on Tuesday, according to Iceye SAR Satellite Constellation, which took satellite images of the islands after the storm passed.
Complicating relief efforts: severe damage to Grand Bahama's international airport, and smaller regional airports around the islands.
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Photos showed buildings and planes destroyed by the storm, with runways sitting underwater.
The hurricane has so far led to seven deaths in the Bahamas, according to officials, and the Red Cross estimates that as many as 13,000 homes may have been severely damaged or destroyed.
The storm devastated the Grand Bahama International Airport in Freeport — the only international airport on Grand Bahama Island. Tornado-strength winds tore into buildings and aircraft.
The airport is "a debris field" following the storm, according to CNN reporter Patrick Oppmann.
Large pieces of damaged buildings and airplanes were scattered around the airport and the surrounding roads.
Airplanes, like this Piper PA-31-350 Chieftain, were thrown across the grounds. The damage to the airframe is unmistakable.
That Piper, although it was catastrophically damaged, was in relatively good shape compared to some other planes, including this one which was split in half on the airfield.
Many of them are beyond repair.
Rescuers had to navigate around, over, or through massive debris to reach victims.
International relief efforts could be hampered because of the extensive damage done to the airport's infrastructure.
There was no power at the airport on Thursday local time, although the runway was cleared of debris by then. There was no word on when civilian flights could begin again. Coast Guard and military aircraft providing aid would likely be able to land sooner, though aid was also arriving by sea and at other landing sites
The Grand Bahama International Airport wasn't the only site of devastation. Other airports and islands were also severely damaged. This is an aerial view of the Marsh Harbour Airport in the Abaco Islands, Bahamas, taken on September 3. Flood water completely covered the runway.
The death toll stood at seven as of Thursday afternoon, local time. That number was likely to increase as rescuers reach damaged areas in search of more victims.
