'Grand Bahama right now is dead': A firsthand look at Dorian's destruction

At least 45 people are dead, hundreds are missing and some 70,000 are homeless. There is no power or running water. Aid is arriving slowly on the island of Grand Bahama, where Dorian parked for almost two days and caused damage one usually witnesses in a war zone.

Our first sign that this hurricane was going to be exceptionally dangerous was when a gate agent announced over the intercom that only Grand Bahama residents would be allowed on the flight. All hotels would be closed, he said. If you didn't live there, you would have nowhere to stay."These are the guys that go stand in the rain on TV," he said, motioning to us."If you want to risk your lives, go for it."The plane was nearly empty.

The storm howled for hours in the darkness. Winds and rain pounded the building from all sides. Daylight finally came, but the sun never showed. We reached an area called"the bridge" where a hastily organized rescue operation was being mounted to save hundreds of people trapped in their homes. As we fled the worsening weather, a wraith of a man in a red rain jacket approached us and whispered,"I've lost my wife."

One of the terminals was ripped open on all sides. Shrapnel was scattered across the inside of the domestic terminal, and the storm had flung the wing of a plane with such force that it had pierced a wall and lay mangled on the floor. A grim Washington"Smitty" Smith sat in the front yard of the house he built in Bevans Town. Dorian tore the roof off and punched holes through the cement walls. The gas station he owned across the street was also completely destroyed."One of the hurtful parts about all of this ... is I haven't seen a government official yet to come say, 'Here's a bottle of water' or to see what's going on.

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