Private relief efforts to assist the hundreds of storm victims in the Southeast Bahamas took shape on Friday and have continued to gain momentum ever since. Hundreds of volunteers have been gathering at various sites across New Providence in a protracted effort to bring hope and help to the residents of the islands hardest hit by Joaquin.
One of the major relief efforts is ongoing at Odyssey Aviation. Another effort is ongoing at the Anglican Diocese. Another initiative was mounted by the Guardian Media Group, Colina Insurance Limited, Cable Bahamas, Providence Advisors and Nassau Container Port. The Rotary Clubs of The Bahamas has also launched a separate fund raising initiative. Those efforts are separate from the operation that the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has launched.
At Odyssey yesterday, volunteers offloaded trailers filled with goods donated by corporate citizens. Leah Lowe, who is helping to organize that relief effort, said Corporate Bahamas has been stepping up. Just over 100 volunteers were gathered at Odyssey as they packaged the donated items that were also brought in by residents from across New Providence.
Hurricane Joaquin pummeled parts of Long Island, Rum Cay, Acklins, Crooked, Island, San Salvador and Long Cay, leaving many families with only the clothes on their backs. The storm, packing winds up to 140 miles per hour, remained over some of those islands for 48 hours. When it moved on, it left a trail of destruction and residents in desperate need.
Matthew Aubry, who is also one of the organizers of the Odyssey relief effort, said he is heartened to see the generosityof Bahamians.
"We set up on Friday," he said. "It was actually Paul Arahna, the president of Trans Island Airways who put out on his Facebook page that he would donate his flights, planes and fuel to run operations and from there it just snowballed. Everybody, myself included, jumped on board and we mobilized."
Over the past three days, the group sent tens of thousands of pounds of water, food, emergency medical supplies, survival equipment and clothes to the various islands.
"So it's really mobilizing," Aubry said. "We're partnering with NEMA and some of the other organizations so that we can really coordinate our efforts and really transition the private effort into a more public, national one."
He said one of the group's greatest challenges remains logistics.
"I think that's going to be the next wave of hope, getting those engineers down there to establish what are safe conditions and being able to get through there," he said. "Seems that there are still some pretty amazing individuals getting around by hook or by crook. Bahamians are very resilient and creative folks and when they want to get somewhere they are going to try and get somewhere. So we will hopefully be able to proceed as coordinated as possible. But it is going to be a big challenge logistically."
Red Cross Director General Caroline Turnquest said relief items have poured in to the organization's John F. Kennedy Drive headquarters. The Red Cross has been collecting goods, packing them and organizing the distribution of those items to storm victims. She said the Red Cross has received canned goods, water, clothes and shoes in large quantities.
However, she called for donors to bring in tents, tarps, flashlights, generators and mosquito nets.
Nassau Guardian Special Project Coordinator Paul Fernander said the group's focus is on long term reconstruction.
"We appreciate all efforts for short term relief but our efforts are centered to long and medium term, repairs done to homes and furniture," he said.
The group of companies is putting together special teams to assist in the rebuilding effort.
Fernander asked residents to bring their donations to The Nassau Guardian on Carter Street.
NEMA Director Stephen Russell said NEMA is also directing assistance to the islands.
"We are going to continue with getting the last set of our assessment team into the islands, for those who weren't able to get out yesterday," he said.
"We're going to get them out today. The focus is going to continue getting as many relief supplies into the disaster areas.
"We have food stuff. We have water. We have blankets. We have other things that the people might need in the immediate days following the disaster. We're going to assess all efforts today and get the supplies into the areas.
"Over the next two weeks the relief and restoration process will run simultaneously and the technical persons who were dispatched yesterday from BEC, Water and Sewerage and BTC, they are doing their assessment to see how they can bring restoration as best they can under the circumstances. So it's a two-pronged approach right now."
Residents are asked to continue to donate to the various organizations.
People who wish to donate money can deposit the money at a special Scotia Bank account. The account number is 001042940.
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