The number of missing persons found stood at 692.

The result was due to staff of the Department of Social Services manning the Missing Persons Help Desk, who made contact with individuals who would have previously reported loved ones missing following Hurricane Dorian.

Social Services is encouraging persons to continue to call the Missing Persons Help Desk to report their loved ones and family relatives missing or found. The numbers are:

(242) 524-0833

(242) 524-0834

(242) 524-0835

GRAND BAHAMA

MENTAL HEALTH ASSESSMENTS

Dr Pamela Mills, the Psychologist, is leading a team of 40 Counsellors throughout the island of Grand Bahama to assess the mental health of residents post-Hurricane Dorian. They are called “Team Restoration” and since going out over a week ago, they have covered a number of communities. According to Dr Mills, they have been going door-to-door, speaking with residents (children and adults) about how they have been impacted as a result of having experienced Hurricane Dorian.

To date, “Team Restoration” has gone into Queen’s Cove, Back-of-town, Heritage, North Bahamia, Hawksbill Creek and parts of East End – areas that were hardest hit by major flooding. In addition to the counselling “Team Restoration” has set up a 24-hr hotline for residents to call, should they feel overwhelmed and need to talk with someone.

The numbers are 802-6518, 802-6523, 802-6525 and 802-6527.

They have also partnered with the Haitian community to provide counselling services to the residents.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS TO GET TARPS

Mr. Ivan Butler, District Superintendent of Education in Grand Bahama says that a decision has been made by the Ministry of Education to place tarps on all of the roofs of public schools on the island. Leaking has become a major issue.

Butler said that even while more assessments on all schools are winding down, it was decided to cover all roofs with tarps, as a date for the announcement of schools reopening is forthcoming. The majority of the public schools have been re-energized, with the exception of St. Georges and Jack Hayward High Schools, both of which had been used as hurricane shelters. Butler says that providing water to some schools has been a challenge. He says there is on-going consultation with the Grand Bahama utilities about the provision of steady water supply to the schools. Mold remediation is also still a big challenge for the public schools, as workers from the Department of Environmental Health Services, and the Ministry of Public Works continue their efforts to correct the problem before a date for the opening of schools is announced.

CUSTOMS DEPARTMENT

The Customs Department has been fielding calls from members of the public about the process to file for duty exemptions, to replace their vehicles damaged during the passage of Hurricane Dorian.

Customs officers are on standby to do inspections and once the required forms are made available, residents who qualify will be able to take advantage of the concessions to bring in vehicles duty-free.

For residents in Grand Bahama who may need to purchase hurricane relief goods from local vendors, the paper work has been put in place to make that transaction as simple as possible. It’s a matter of those buyers filling out “Form A”, having an interview with the Customs Department and then purchasing their supplies from the respective vendors.

GB POLICE CONTINUE TO GET ASSISTANCE FROM CARICOM

Assistant Commissioner of Police in Grand Bahama Samuel Butler says that the police force is not faced with any serious challenges at this time and continues to focus their restoration efforts on safety within the communities.

He said that the force is hosting 16 new officers from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) who will be working with the local police for a few weeks. He said they will be residing at the Police training school and will go out daily to augment local officers in keeping the peace, even as the island continues to recover from Hurricane Dorian.

Mr. Butler said that they received a report about a body that had been discovered in bushes. He suspects that the body could be among the list of missing persons, and said that they are in the process of trying to identify the remains.

He said that they still have concerns about some gravesites that were disturbed during the Hurricane and so they are ensuring that all graveyards that were flooded during the storm are properly secured.

GB POWER TO POWER UP WATER WELL FIELDS

Officials of Grand Bahama Power Company are expected to go into the water wells fields today to restore power that had been severely affected during Hurricane Dorian. Once power is restored to those well fields, it is expected to increase the capacity of the water company to provide water to even more residents and to increase water flow to those who may already have low water supply.

GB Power is concerned with some outages that are being reported by residents who have had their electricity restored. They are asking residents who may be experiencing frequent outages to call the power company so that a crew can correct the problem.

Although the power company has taken up the task of dealing with the major work within East Grand Bahama, they are also still focused on restoring power to areas throughout the island, which were not as hard hit by the storm.

Heritage, Hudson Estates, Back-of-town and other areas that were flooded during Hurricane Dorian received power on Monday, September 23, 2019. Residents in homes that receive more than a foot of water or above the receptacle had to have all of those and the switches changed and replaced by a qualified electrician. The sheet rock should also be removed.

The electrical work has to be substantiated by a certified GB Port Authority electrician, who must then sign off on the work to ensure that it was done properly before electricity is restored. All for safety reasons.

HEALTH AND MEDICAL SERVICES

Public Health announcements included proper waste disposal, hand washing, and prevention notices in both English and Creole. A copy was given to social services for posting in the shelters.

The PHA established GoFundMe account to raise funds to rebuild hospitals in Abaco and Grand Bahama. The site https://www.rebuildourhospitals.org was erected on September 17 and has generated $22,525 of its $1 million goal thus far.

Contact made with a nurse in Marsh Harbour Clinic, who received information of 1 medical evacuation conducted Monday, September 23, of a 36-year -old male with uncontrolled diabetes mellitus.

HAZARDOUS MATERIAL LAND/MARINE

Vector control officers and supplies are on the ground in Abaco and Grand Bahama, as of September 23, 2019.

URBAN/MARINE SEARCH & RESCUE

The Mexican Military ship brought in supplies for hurricane relief efforts on Tuesday, September 24 at Arawak Port Development. Royal Bahamas Defence Force will assist in offloading this vessel.