NASSAU, Bahamas _ The death toll rose to at least 20 in the Bahamas on Wednesday from Hurricane Dorian as the catastrophic damage and humanitarian crisis came into sharper focus.
The newest estimate came from Bahamas Health Minister Duane Sands as relief and rescue crews began a wider assessment of Grand Bahamas, the Abacos and surrounding islands pounded by the record-breaking Category 5 hurricane.
At the airport in Nassau, residents desperate to recover loved ones trapped on Great Abaco and Grand Bahama, search and rescue teams, and aid groups organizing shipments of relief supplies to the devastated islands gathered to help the government of the Bahamas begin the long road to recovery.
In South Florida, private individuals and charities launched collections of food, water and hygiene kits while others began to prepare for the long rebuilding effort ahead. And in Tallahassee and Washington, D.C., elected officials from both major parties initiated calls for the Trump administration to loosen immigration requirements to allow for those fleeing the storm's devastation to enter the United States more easily.
But as international governments and aid groups marshaled at the airport, many in the Bahamas' northwestern islands remained stranded and in need of food, water and shelter.
Sandra Cooke was in Nassau waiting for her sister-in-law to be medically evacuated from Marsh Harbor, the capital of Great Abaco, which took the brunt of Dorian's destructive force.
"My brother's roof collapsed on her and trapped her for 17 hours," Cooke said of her sister-in-law. "He wrapped her in a shower curtain ... She can't walk."
Cooke said they had hired a private helicopter service to evacuate her Thursday.
The first storm victims rescued from Abaco were expected to arrive in Nassau from the Bahamas' hard hit northern islands Wednesday. At the Odyssey private airport _ the staging ground for emergency relief efforts _ ambulances were lined up waiting to transport the injured to area hospitals.
There are still no functional airports on Abaco, local officials said, so all aid and rescue is being transported via helicopter.
Lowree Tynes 36, and Daynan Tynes, 44, from the Abaco islands, also waited at the executive airport in Nassau on Wednesday morning trying to catch a flight home to evacuate about 10 children trapped there.
The kids belong to family and friends who weren't able to get off the island before Dorian made landfall there on Sunday as a Category 5 storm with sustained winds of 185 mph and a storm surge two-stories high, making it the most powerful hurricane on record ever to hit the island.
Communications are spotty, so the Tyneses have only been receiving cryptic, bare-bones text messages.
"House is gone."
"Need help."
"Alive."
They have also received coordinates of where they hope to find the children. In some cases, the coordinates have changed five or six times _ a sign, they fear, that people are fleeing from one precarious shelter to another.
The couple, who run a construction company and design studio in Marsh Harbour, have helped many of their clients over the years build hurricane-resistant homes. But Dorian was different.
"There was no way to prepare for this," Lowree Tynes said.
Four days after the hurricane hit, the couple also fear that their isolated family and friends are likely growing desperate.
"People stock up on food and water for two or three days," Daynan Tynes said. "But there was no way they could have planned for this long."
They're taking diapers, water, baby food and other first aid items, but it's unclear how long they will wait to get to the islands. The couple were competing with the Bahamian military, aid organizations and the global media to find room on a flight.
Asked what group they represented, they said, "We live here."
The Tyneses said they do not know the condition of their own home, cars and business on Abaco, but they are prepared for the worst.
"Our house is gone," Daynan Tynes said. "At least that's what we expect."
Bahamian Minister of National Security Marvin Dames said rescuers are still in the initial stages of search, recovery and assessment on the Abaco islands.
There are currently no reports of U.S. citizens among the dead.
"Thanks to our advisories, we believe that most U.S. citizens in the affected areas who wanted to flee were able to evacuate before the hurricane arrived," said a State Department representative.
"At the moment, we are not aware of any U.S. citizens killed or seriously injured in the Bahamas," she added, "but the embassy in Nassau is gathering information about U.S. citizens in the affected areas who need help and passing that information to the Coast Guard and other U.S. and Bahamian authorities so they can be included in rescue operations."
In a conference call with the State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Coast Guard, members of Congress from Miami pushed federal agencies for more clarity on the best ways to send aid to the Bahamas and questioned why USAID was sending two search and rescue teams from Los Angeles and Virginia instead of teams from Miami.
"Right now the capacity to receive flights to the Bahamas and move teams around is very limited, a USAID official said. "We want to make sure that we are not wasting resources. If they need additional help we will activate other capabilities if required."
USAID also said it was sending personnel to help the Bahamas' emergency management agency coordinate a disaster response plan.
USAID said the search and rescue teams from Los Angeles and Virginia were already working in the Bahamas, and that teams from Miami could be used in the future if necessary.
"I ask that you caution your constituents in trying to directly deliver relief supplies in the next few days," a Coast Guard official said in response to Rep. Donna Shalala, D-Fla., who asked about what to do with an influx of donations and people willing to ship the aid to the Bahamas. "We have to assess the ports, there's a lot of debris in the water. It's a safety issue for them to try to get boats there at this point."
Aerial footage of Great Abaco in the northwestern Bahamas revealed the decimation Dorian left behind.
After flying over the devastated islands on Tuesday, Bahamian Prime Minister Hubert Minnis called the storm's aftermath "one of the greatest national crises in our country's history."
Survivors have been reported missing and others are stranded in flooded buildings as a result of Dorian, which decimated most of the homes in Marsh Harbour, the capital of Great Abaco, and wiped out a shantytown known as The Mudd.
The storm's high winds and muddy brown storm water took out hospitals and airports, deluged roadways and trapped people in their homes. A group of 30 people were rescued from floodwaters in the Abaco islands Tuesday, but many more needed help as search-and-rescue operations were underway.
About 400 people took shelter at the clinic in Marsh Harbour, the Pan American Health Organization reported. At least 20 critical patients were evacuated from Abaco to the Princess Margaret Hospital in Nassau.
Extensive flooding in Abaco and Grand Bahama island, where Dorian stalled for two days, damaged the Rand Memorial Hospital in Freeport, contributing to a public health challenge.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Dorian remained a Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center's 2 p.m. EDT advisory. The storm was about 115 miles east of Jacksonville and moving north-northwest at 9 mph, on a course to move near or over the coast of Georgia and South Carolina by early Thursday.
Dorian is now clear of the Bahamas, but the island nation's rebuilding will be present for the long term.
In anticipation of a mammoth international relief effort, government officials in the Bahamas said they will welcome any donations to help residents battered by Dorian. But international and local Bahamian charities seeking to help should contact the country's National Emergency Management Agency or NEMA.
On Wednesday the Central Bank of the Bahamas loosened lending guidelines for residents and businesses needing hurricane relief. For those sending help from outside the islands, the ministry of finance and customs waived taxes and duties on hurricane relief supplies for individuals and organizations. Athena Marche, deputy financial secretary, said the customs process has been streamlined to ensure that items can get quickly to those who need them.
"The government has eliminated several layers of approval and multiple steps to improve the process and ensure a smooth clearance of vital hurricane relief supplies at the border," Marche said.
Tax breaks under the order will only apply to supplies sent to the following islands: Abaco, the Abaco Cays, Grand Bahama island, Sweetings Cay, Deep Water Cay and Water Cay, Marche said.
To help fund relief efforts, Bahamian officials accessed emergency funds, including a $200,000 grant from the Caribbean Development Bank and a $200,000 line of credit from the Inter-American Development Bank.
The country will also seek help from the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility, a fund that disaster-prone Caribbean nations pay into for disaster coverage.
"The government will draw down on these funds based on an assessment of needs at each phase of the recovery," Marche said. "Hurricane Dorian is not only a catastrophic natural disaster for the Bahamas, it is an unprecedented global event."
For the next 30 days, bottled water, clothing, food and personal hygiene supplies will be duty and tax free. For the next 90 days, medical supplies, building supplies, tents, cots, bedding materials, mosquito netting, electrical and plumbing fixtures, household furniture, appliances and electrical generators will also be exempt for individuals and businesses importing these items as donations to registered charities.
"A number of fees will be waived for three months for noncommercial flights bringing in relief goods in the affected islands including departure tax, customs processing fees and environmental levies," Marche added.
Those seeking to import items not on the approved listing will need to apply to the ministry of finance for review.
Marche also noted that the country's registrar general has a comprehensive list of charities that individuals should consult. NEMA also has a list of charities that are engaged in disaster relief activities. Established charities not on the registered list should contact NEMA at 242-376-6362.
"It's important to let the international community know that all persons, private individuals, charities, organizations, will be allowed to come in and to bring items of reliefs," said Marlon Johnson, acting financial secretary. "There is and there will be a process for persons who want to be NEMA recognized."
Johnson said the government doesn't want to turn away individuals coming to help, but formal recognition of charities is important because it lets individuals know that the organizations are affiliated with the government.
Rosamon Gomez, president of the National Association of the Bahamas, a South Florida-based nonprofit, is working together with the Bahamas Consulate General to collect relief supplies to send to the islands.
"It's just overwhelming right now," Gomez said of the response.
In response to the crisis, Florida Rep. Shevrin Jones, a Democrat who has family in the Bahamas, called on the Trump administration and federal lawmakers to make it easier for Bahamians fleeing the storm's aftermath to enter the U.S.
"I urge the Trump Administration as well as Senators Rubio and Scott to waive U.S. visa requirements for Bahamians seeking refuge post-Dorian," Jones said in a written statement. "It is inhumane to do nothing while thousands of our fellow human beings are left to languish without drinking water or shelter.
Later in the afternoon on Wednesday, U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott co-signed a letter asking the Trump administration to help by relaxing immigration requirements for Bahamians. Rubio posted a copy of the letter on Twitter.
Speaking to media in Miami from a cavernous warehouse stocked with cots, food, medicine and other relief supplies, Scott referred to the Temporary Protected Status program, or TPS, which would give Bahamians the ability to live and work legally in the U.S.
"The problem that you've got is ... it's hard to do TPS now because the court system does not allow TPS to stop," he said. "We all want to do this, but the issue is the court system is messing it up."
When asked about waiving of visa requirements _ not TPS _ Scott said he and Rubio are "working on it to make sure that happens."
Waiving visa requirements would allow Bahamians, who have low visa overstay rates, to stay with family in the U.S. while their country rebuilds in the wake of Hurricane Dorian's intense destruction.
As of 10 a.m. Wednesday, Coast Guard officials reported that crews in the Bahamas had rescued 61 people and four pets since the storm began. Coast Guard crews are conducting air operations out of a base on Andros Island near Nassau.
The Coast Guard advised persons in need of help to call 919 in the Bahamas, or to call the Bahamian National Emergency Management Agency at 242-325-9983 or the Bahamian Emergency Operations Center at 242-362-3895 or 242-362-3896.
With much of Great Abaco and Grand Bahama without power and cut off from communication, reports of looting and lawlessness surfaced on social media, where scores of people shared cellphone videos, pictures and other personal accounts of Dorian's destruction.
Dames, the minister of national security, estimated that about 100 security forces were on the Abaco islands and 600 to 700 were patrolling on Grand Bahamas with more were on the way.
His office has been receiving reports of looting, but said in many cases it was survivors scavenging for provisions.
"I wouldn't consider that looting," he said.
Speaking at the airport in Nassau, as he prepared for an overflight of the Abaco islands, he also said that police and military were being forced to check out fake tips coming in through social media, including reports of theft and stranded families.
"This is the era we are in _ social media," he said. "And there are people who see this as an opportunity to create mischief. And it's putting a critical strain on our resources."
For those in need of humanitarian help, a 600-foot Bahamian Navy vessel was scheduled to deliver food to the Abaco Islands Tuesday night. The Bahamian National Emergency Management Agency planned to distribute more food to residents there Wednesday.
The undersecretary of the United Nations also was scheduled to visit the Bahamas on Wednesday to coordinate humanitarian relief, and a call was scheduled with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Minnis said.
On ZNS Network, a radio and TV station on Grand Bahama, broadcasters relayed messages from survivors who had lost communication with family and friends _ some were searching for missing loved ones, while others wanted to say they were doing alright.
Many in South Florida turned to social media to touch base with loved ones on the islands.
In one group chat on WhatsApp that was set up for families searching for loved ones in the Abaco islands, more than 250 people posted more than 700 photos, links and documents after the group was formed on Monday.
Fort Lauderdale resident Walnide Saintilaire, 32, wanted to know if anyone had seen her father's body. She was asking for a photo to confirm the news she heard: that he had died escaping his home in Murphy Town, Central Abaco, over the weekend.
"To be honest, I didn't know it was going to be this bad," she told the Miami Herald.
