The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Staff Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

THE anniversary of Hurricane Dorian still conjures pain and sadness for many people in Abaco and Grand Bahama.

“Every time on September 1, there is always panic, and they remember what happened to their loved ones that passed away in the hurricane. It will be a day of crying,” said Beraca Baptist Church Pastor Henry, referring to the Haitian community.

Hurricane Dorian caused $3.4 billion in damage in 2019, decimating various communities, including The Mud and Pigeon Peas. The storm killed at least 74 people.

“We want to just to thank God for sparing our lives and seeing us through another year,” Pastor Henry said.

Pastor Raynald Oliurice of the Church of God Prophecy in Dundas Town said his wife, Mary Lou, was never found. He said he knows a Haitian woman whose two girls were never found.

He said he gets scared when there is bad weather.

“Even now, I feel traumatised by the hurricane, and if I am sleeping in the night and the wind blows outside, I start to think about it," he said.

He recalled feeling helpless when the church in which he and 70 others, including children, were sheltered was destroyed.

“You don’t have nowhere to go,” he said. “You just wait for your life to end and there is nothing you can do to help yourself or someone around you. It is a very bad feeling.”

Pastor Oliurice said finding accommodations in Abaco is still challenging.

People are still living in tents and cars because they have no place to go, he said, adding housing has become more expensive.

“A single-bedroom unit rents about $1,000 monthly,” he said. "It is really tough."