Amid fears of far higher Dorian death toll, islanders scramble to leave

Bahamians who lost everything in the devastating passage of Hurricane Dorian were scrambling Saturday to escape the worst-hit islands by sea or by air, after the powerful storm left at least 43 people dead with officials fearing a "significantly" higher toll. A loosely coordinated armada of passenger planes, helicopters and both private and government boats and ships - including redirected cruise liners - was converging on the horribly battered Abaco Islands to help with evacuations, both to Nassau and to the US mainland.
But Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said that "Nassau cannot possibly accommodate" all the Abaco victims. He said plans were being hammered out for constructing tents and other temporary accommodations, the Nassau Guardian reported Saturday. For now, he said, supplies of food and water were adequate, though several witnesses from Abaco contested that. A cruise ship carrying 1,400 evacuees arrived Saturday in Riviera Beach, Florida, CNN reported. More than 260 Abacos residents arrived Friday in Nassau on a government-chartered ferry. Another, carrying 200, was set to leave on Saturday.