Tyler Stafford By Sydney Anderson, Alley Faulkner, & Yvan Polynice
OCT. 2, 2019
On September 1, 2019, Hurricane Dorian made landfall as a record-breaking category five, leaving the Bahamas in pieces. Within this broken island the death tolls and injuries rose rapidly. Reports estimate that there were 53 deaths and thousands of residents still missing.
On August 25, 2019, meteorologists observed a tropical storm in the Atlantic Ocean. As the storm advanced, it rapidly grew to a category three hurricane and was named Dorian. Within a couple of days, meteorologists were predicting that Dorian could become a category five hurricane by the time it approached the Bahamas.
On August 29, meteorologist Chris Lambert, of Boston WHDH Channel 7, told the Raider Review that Hurricane Dorian was moving northwest towards Florida; however, it slowly drifted east then north of the Atlantic Ocean before making landfall on the northern coast of Florida.
Ultimately Hurricane Dorian unexpectedly changed direction and traveled up the east coast of the United States, barely affecting Florida. Sadly, the hurricane did hit the Bahamas. Dorian moved thirty miles in thirty hours with extremely powerful winds and currents, flooding the country with thirty inches of rain. Thousands of houses were destroyed. The Freeport Island’s only airport was washed out, grounding all inbound and outbound flights. These circumstances made it impossible to transport the severely injured out of the country. The only way for outside help to reach people was by boat. Flights are now able to land in the Bahamas providing care and evacuation to the citizens.
In an effort to aid the Bahamas, St. Thomas Aquinas High School (STA) has partnered with the Food for the Poor organization to donate desperately needed supplies. Assistant Principal Mrs. Margie Scott, who is the organizer of this project, stated that hurricane recovery supplies and hurricane preparedness supplies would be most beneficial. Some examples of these products are tape, tarps, large garbage bags, flashlights, baby supplies, and non-perishable
foods. All of the supplies collected at STA were flown to the Bahamas in an effort to help the country get back on its feet. These supplies have already helped the Bahamas greatly, thanks to the STA family coming together for a huge cause.
