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Help without detours for the needy people of Grand Bahamas
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Help without detours for the needy people of Grand Bahamas

With high logistical effort, relief supplies without direct detours via Florida reached directly by ship Grand Bahamas and especially Abaco – those regions of the archipelago that hit hurricane “Dorian” about four weeks ago with destructive force and enormous amounts of water. More than 70,000 people there continue to suffer from the high damage caused by “Dorian”: Around 13,000 homes were severely damaged by the tropical storm or completely razed to the ground, destroying the infrastructure such as the drinking water and electricity supply, and lacking tools for daily life and medical care. The number of people who fell victim to the hurricane in Grand Bahamas is still unclear.

Six power generators, food and baby diapers were loaded in Ft. Lauderdale on the east coast of Florida onto a cargo ship and brought directly to Freeport, the capital of Grand Bahamas, which was also haunted by the tropical storm like the nearby Abaco islands. “Hurricane Dorian, with its speed of around 300 kilometers per hour, has hit the northern Bahamas with full force for 40 hours. Freetown alone is without power supply. Our generators are therefore of the highest urgency. It will take a long time and intense outside help to restore this part of the Bahamas to what it once was: a popular bathing and excursion destination. After all, tourism was one of the main sources of income in this part of the archipelago as well”, said Frank Franke, managing director of the Wings of Help charity, who accompanied the mission to the needy people in the north of the Bahamas.

The former Ambassador of the Bahamas to the United Nations in New York, Maurice Moore, emphasized locally in the Grand Bahamas to Wings of Help: “Our islands, affected by Hurricane Dorian, still need urgent external help in the medium term.” Katherine Smith Forbes, President of the Bahamas Senate, thanked the Wings of Help team and its US partner Aviation Without Borders (AWB) for their “joint transatlantic effort to bring help to our islands with an excellent humanitarian spirit.”

The aid was organized by the Wings of Help team from Frankfurt am Main and coordinated with its US partner Aviation Without Borders (AWB), based near Washington, DC. The humanitarian operation was also supported by the Hamburg based duty-free company Gebr. Heinemann, with whom the Frankfurt aid organization works together successfully also on other projects.