Hurricane Dorian | UWI Bahamians want to return home to help

Some Bahamian nationals attending The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, are considering returning home in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian, which ravaged the archipelago this week.

Their intention is to assist desperate countrymen, whose lives and livelihoods have been disrupted by the stubborn Category Five hurricane, which lashed the 700-island nation this week. Only 30 of these islands have been inhabited.

With weather conditions still unstable, it could be some time before the students get to fly back home to assist their countrymen.

“We prayed right here on campus. We got together as one and prayed so hard, but looking at the pictures and the videos that we are getting, we even have to wonder if it is really the place we know as Bahamas,” one Bahamian student living on the Mona campus told The Gleaner yesterday. “There is damage everywhere. Pets have died. Some people have lost everything. Some families are without the basics and it is just really tough for our fellow citizens and families.”

GRATEFUL FOR SUPPORT

The student expressed gratitude for the outpouring of support since reports of the devastation began to surface.

“I must say that people who know that is where we are from have been very supportive and I get the feeling that we are not on our own, so I am really thankful for that, and I just hope it continues because we are going to need a lot of it going forward,” the student said.

Meanwhile, The UWI – of which The Bahamas is one of its 16 contributing countries – has said that it is readying its tactical support team to aid the islands as residents begin to put the pieces back together as they rise from the storm. It said UWI engineering experts are available to participate in the rapid needs assessment team and that it also had pyscho-social professionals on standby.

Vice Chancellor Professor Sir Hilary Beckles expressed deep sadness and concern as he reiterated the university’s commitment to regional colleagues and partners.

Sir Hilary said that the UWI Disaster Risk Reduction Centre, established in 2005, would work closely with the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency to advise on and support the needs of the country as necessary.

“The extreme vulnerability of our region is now finally globally recognised as an existential threat caused by climate change and global warming. Once again, we have witnessed this truth in the extensive destruction and tragic deaths caused by the growing intensity of hurricanes. As we mourn the human loss in our Bahamas family and lament their massive property destruction, the university urges policy framers to fast-track the application of science in building out the region’s future resilience,” said Sir Hilary.