(10 Sep 2019) Desperation mounted in the Bahamas on Tuesday as hurricane survivors arriving in the capital by boat and plane were turned away from overflowing shelters. As government officials gave assurances at a news conference that more shelters would be opened as needed, Julie Green and her family gathered outside the headquarters of the island's emergency management agency, seeking help.
"They didn't have enough beds in there," 35-year-old former waitress Julie Green said, referring to a shelter.
Originally from Great Abaco, she has six children including 7-month-old twins with her husband.
Hurricane Dorian devastated the Abaco and Grand Bahama islands in the northern part of the archipelago a week ago, leaving at least 50 dead, with the toll certain to rise as the search for bodies goes on.
Nearly 5,000 people have arrived in Nassau by plane and by boat, and many were struggling to start new lives, unclear of how or where to begin.
More than 2,000 of them were staying in shelters, according to government figures.
Green said that shelter officials told her they couldn't accept such young children, and that the family has slept in the home of a different person every night since arriving Friday in New Providence, the island where Nassau is situated.
"So now we're kind of like just staying in between friends and then people we meet who want to be nice," she said.
The government has estimated that up to 10,000 people from the Abacos alone will need food, water and temporary housing.
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