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1 1 (September 25, 2019)

handle is hein.crs/govbbee0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional *.Research Service Bahamas: Response to Hurricane Dorian September 25, 2019 On September 1-2, 2019, Hurricane Dorian, a Category 5 storm with winds of 180 miles per hour and storm surges of up to 23 feet, caused widespread damage to the islands of Grand Bahama and Abaco in the northwestern Bahamas, a country of some 700 islands off the southeast coast of the United States (see Figure 1). The official death toll is 53 as of September 23 (with over 80% on Abaco) but is expected to rise, according to the Bahamian government's National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). NEMA also estimated the number of missing at around 1,300 (down from 2,500). With an estimated population of 51,000 on Grand Bahama and 17,200 on Abaco, the two islands account for about 18% of the Bahamas' population of almost 390,000. According to the U.S Agency for International Development (USAID), 60% of the structures on Grand Bahama and Abaco were completely or severely damaged and 27% were moderately damaged. Among the areas suffering the most severe damage was Abaco's town of Marsh Harbour. Thousands of people from the two islands have relocated to other parts of the Bahamas, especially New Providence Island, where Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas is located; about 1,600 were residing in shelters as of September 23. According to press reports, U.S. Customs and Border Protection maintained that about 3,900 Bahamian evacuees had arrived in Florida as of September 13. U.S. and International Humanitarian Response Through its Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), USAID coordinates the U.S. government emergency response to international humanitarian crises and disasters. U.S. Charge d'Affaires Stephanie Bowers at the U.S. Embassy in Nassau declared a disaster on September 2. OFDA then deployed a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) to the Bahamas and activated a Response Management Team based in Washington, DC. DARTs are activated in the wake of a disaster to coordinate and manage the U.S. government response, and they work closely with local government officials, the international community, and relief agencies. In the Bahamas, the DART has worked closely with NEMA, which is coordinating the emergency response activities of more than 50 organizations. Immediately after the storm, the DART deployed 37 disaster experts and 64 search and rescue professionals; on September 14, the DART's search and rescue professionals left the Bahamas after a 10-day deployment in which they searched and assessed more than 1,000 structures. According to USAID, as of September 15, the response had shifted from immediate relief (first aid, search and recovery, and rapid damage and needs assessments) to focus on shelter for displaced populations, debris removal operations, and the restoration of communications, electricity, and water systems. Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN11171 CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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