Bahamians await aid as US Southeast assesses damage from hurricane

NAGS HEAD, N.C. — Skies cleared and floodwaters receded Saturday from North Carolina’s Outer Banks, leaving behind a muddy trail of destruction wrought by Hurricane Dorian, which turned north and began lashing parts of eastern Canada.

In the decimated Bahamas, where Dorian struck last Sunday as a ferocious Category 5 hurricane, search and rescue teams were still trying to reach some communities isolated by floodwaters and debris. At least 43 people died and the toll is expected to rise sharply.

“We acknowledge that there are many missing and that the number of deaths is expected to significantly increase,” said Prime Minister Hubert Minnis. “This is one of the stark realities we are facing in this hour of darkness.”

Several hundred people, many of them Haitian immigrants, waited at Abaco island’s Marsh Harbour in hopes of leaving the disaster zone on vessels arriving with aid. Bahamian security forces were organizing evacuations on a landing craft. Other boats, including yachts and other private craft, were also helping to evacuate people.

“There’s nothing left here. There are no jobs,” said Avery Parotti, a 19-year-old bartender, who hopes to start a new life in the United States, where she has relatives.

The U.S. Coast Guard said it has rescued a total of 290 people in the Bahamas following Hurricane Dorian. Six MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters are carrying out search and rescue missions and providing logistical support, while nine cutters are also helping, the Coast Guard said.

More than 1,100 Bahamians arrived in Palm Beach, Fla., after being evacuated by cruise ship. The Grand Celebration returned to its home port after setting sail Thursday for Freeport, Grand Bahama, to deliver more than 112 tons of supplies and ferry dozens of health workers and...