Shell-shocked residents of the northwest Bahamas began taking stock Friday of widespread damage from a direct hit by Hurricane Matthew _ which slashed across the population and tourism centers of New Providence and Grand Bahama islands the day before with winds of 140 mph _ with relief that the storm appears to have largely spared lives and limbs.
In hard-hit Freeport, police said people heeded warnings to stay sheltered and to secure homes and buildings, and there were no fatalities or serious injuries reported by late afternoon Friday, echoing reports from the capital of Nassau on New Providence, where most of the Bahamas' population of around 375,000 lives.
The government assessed the damage Friday, but facts and figures were still scant by day's end. There were early reports of extensive damage to buildings, homes and electrical and communications infrastructure on Grand Bahama and New Providence, with utility poles down and streets blocked by floodwaters and fallen trees and debris. All of Freeport was without power.
In the Grand Bahama communities of Eight Mile Rock and Holmes Rock, about 95 percent of buildings were significantly damaged, Brenda Colebrooke, the island administrator for West Grand Bahama, told the Tribune242 website. Matthew's eyewall passed directly over the western part of the island about 8 p.m. Thursday, hours after raking across Nassau at midday.
"Portions of the homes were blown out and roofs were completely blown off," Colebrooke said.
Still, given the power of the storm, which escalated from a Category 3 to a Category 4 hurricane as it swept northwest through the Bahamian islands on its way to Florida, the nation seems to have weathered the blow relatively well, said Clint Watson, a broadcast journalist at ZNS Radio 3 in Nassau who has been compiling damage reports.
"While there is widespread destruction, it could have been far worse," Watson said in an interview. "We fared well."
Watson said there were reports of serious damage to more lightly populated Andros Island, to the west of New Providence, which also scored a direct strike from Matthew. But spotty communications meant details were unavailable, he said.
"We're getting reports of devastation on North Andros, but communication is difficult," Watson said.
There were no confirmed reports of deaths from Matthew anywhere in the Bahamas and few reports of serious injury, according to news and police reports. One person who was flown to Nassau from Andros died of a heart attack, but it had not been determined whether that was linked to the storm, Watson said.
The hurricane began its assault on the Bahamas Wednesday night as a Category 3 storm, leaving flooded streets and damage on the southern islands of Great Exuma and Long Island, among others, though preliminary reports suggested those were not as hard-hit as the central and northwest islands a day later.
Bahamian tourism officials said they expected the industry to take a hit, with flights and cruise ships diverted while officials assessed damage to ports and resorts.
