For New Pittsburgh Courier
One week after Hurricane Dorian hit the Bahamas, the death toll is over 50 people and expected to rise dramatically.
The most powerful storm to strike the Caribbean island-nation has left death and destruction stretching across the once pristine landscape.
Bahamian officials have declined to speculate on how many individuals remain uncounted after the Category 5 hurricane trudged through with 185 mph winds and surging floodwaters. But Duane Sands, the country’s health minister, says there is “likely to be a significant and unimaginable toll.”
Teams are focused on getting food, water, shelter and clothing to thousands of people throughout the 700-plus archipelago, said Sands.
The Bahamian people need humanitarian aid from the United States and other countries. What they don’t need are the insults and cruelty that coming from President Donald Trump and his administration.
Officials said more than 100 Bahamians who hoped to evacuate to Florida after Hurricane Dorian but didn’t have visas were kicked off a ferry because operators failed to coordinate the mission with authorities.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said that the agency requested the company coordinate the evacuation with U.S. and Bahamian governments to pre-screen passengers before they departed Freeport. But the company failed to do so.
Bahamians need a visa to travel to the U.S. unless they are pre-screened by U.S. Customs officers at one of the two main Bahamian airports.
The U.S. agents also can arrange special pre-screening for passengers departing from ports. However, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio said those on the Balearia Caribbean ferry decided to depart Sunday instead of waiting for the required clearance.
Rubio and Florida’s other U.S. senator, Rick Scott, both Republicans, asked the Trump administration to waive visa requirements for Bahamian storm victims with relatives in the U.S., but Trump indicated that he wanted to keep strict vetting in place because of “people going to the Bahamas that weren’t supposed to be there.”
The Spanish ferry company apologized to the 119 passengers who could not be taken to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Trump gave no indication Monday that he was considering lifting requirements for Bahamian storm evacuees. Trump said stringent vetting should continue for those traveling to the U.S.
“We have to be very careful. Everybody needs totally proper documentation,” Trump said. “I don’t want to allow people that weren’t supposed to be in the Bahamas to come into the United States, including some very bad people and some very bad gang members and some very, very bad drug dealers.”
His remarks are offensive, as the president offered no evidence that the evacuees are gang members and drug dealers.
This is a humanitarian crisis. Unnecessary delays will only lead to more deaths.
(Reprinted from the Philadelphia Tribune)
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