Published January 14, 2015
Bahamians pulled soaked furniture and carpets out of flooded houses Monday as they cleaned up the widespread damage left by Hurricane Jeanne, which ripped roofs, toppled concrete walls and damaged hundreds of homes.
Long lines formed as some grocery stores and gas stations reopened. The island chain's government sent tons of aid to the two northern islands hardest hit.
Jeanne uprooted trees, blew out windows and sent sea water into neighborhoods Saturday on the islands of Abaco (search) and Grand Bahama (search). Receding floodwaters left boats lying on roads and homes battered just three weeks after a devastating hit by Hurricane Frances (search).
The floods ruined much of the equipment in the A.I.D. Hardware store on Abaco island, where manager Frankie Russell heaped damaged machinery into a trash bin.
"[The] damage is phenomenal," Russell said.
Marina docks were mangled, and house after house had flooding damage in Marsh Harbor, the main town on Abaco island.
Many parts of Freeport on Grand Bahama island, the second-largest city in the low-lying island chain, remained without electricity or running water. Some roads remained under 3 feet of water for miles Monday.
"The big concern is getting aid to people in need," said Matt Maura, a spokesman for the national emergency agency. "Water is a big need."
No deaths were reported, but Jeanne's 115-mph winds further damaged some 1,800 homes on Grand Bahama that were damaged by Hurricane Frances.
Earlier, Jeanne caused more than 1,500 deaths in Haiti, plus 24 in the Dominican Republic and seven in Puerto Rico.
Jamaican Foreign Minister K.D. Knight on Monday urged the United Nations to create a relief fund for Caribbean countries devastated by recent hurricanes.
"The scale of the destruction and damage to infrastructure and the means to livelihood have been catastrophic," Knight said in an address to the General Assembly.
https://www.foxnews.com/story/bahamas-cleans-up-after-jeanne