Bahamas PM Says If US Had Not Intervened, Deaths Due to Dorian ‘Would Be Even More’

Aid and supplies arrive via private boat from Spanish Wells of Eleuthera Island in Great Abaco Island, Bahamas, on Sept. 6, 2019. (Jose Jimenez/Getty Images)

Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Minnis thanked the United States for assisting his country during Hurricane Dorian and said that this help prevented further loss of life.

As of Sept. 6, 30 people are reported dead and 76,000 are believed to be homeless after Hurricane Dorian stuck the islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama last weekend, according to the United Nations.

On Friday, while talking on CNN’s “AC360,” Minnis thanked the United States for its assistance to cope with the disaster.

“From day one, the United States was in our territory assisting us with all of our needs. Had it not been for the United States we would not have been advanced this far in the entire process,” Minnis told the show’s host Anderson Cooper.

“Even though our death numbers, we expect they [will] increase, had the United States not come in quickly… our death numbers would be even more,” he said.

Cooper shared in a message on Twitter about Minis mentioning President Donald’s Trump’s call in which he “promised support.”

“Bahamian Prime Minister Hubert Minnis says President Trump promised support during their phone call,” said Cooper on Twitter.

In a message on Twitter on Saturday, President Trump thanked Prime Minister Minnis for his words and credited FEMA and the U.S. Coast Guard.

“Thank you to Bahamian Prime Minister Hubert Minnis for your very gracious and kind words in saying that without the help of the United States and me, there would have been many more casualties. I give all credit to FEMA, the U.S. Coast Guard, & the brave people of the Bahamas,” Trump wrote.

“I would also like to thank ‘Papa’ Doug Manchester, hopefully, the next Ambassador to the Bahamas, for the incredible amount of time, money and passion he has spent on helping to bring safety to the Bahamas. Much work to be done by the Bahamian Government. We will help!” said Trump.

The United States Coast Guard said in a press release on Friday that it is supporting the Bahamas National Emergency Management Agency and the Royal Bahamas Defense Force in rescue and search operations, and has rescued 239 people in the island nation since Dorian happened.

The U.S. Agency for International Development said in a blog post it is responding in four ways to Dorian.

The agency has deployed a USAID disaster team “to coordinate U.S. response efforts, conduct damage assessments, identify priority needs, and work closely with local authorities and humanitarian organizations to provide assistance to people in need.”

It has deployed search and rescue teams that are equipped with “50,000 pounds of medical equipment and specialized tools—including inflatable boats, life vests, water rescue equipment, listening devices, and search cameras.”

The agency is also providing relief supplied by the air and the sea. “On Wednesday, USAID airlifted 47 metric tons of critical relief supplies from its emergency warehouse in Miami to the Bahamas,” said the agency.

It said it has provided assistance worth more than $1.8 million, including funding to the Bahamas Red Cross.