Hurricane Dorian made landfall in The Bahamas as a category 5 storm on September 1st, 2019. The worst of the damage was caused on the islands of Grand Bahama and Abaco.
Pastor Silbert Mills of Friendship Tabernacle Church in Marsh Harbour, Abaco reflected on how the island has changed since the passage of Dorian. He said, “one of the things that we’ve noticed is that the old guard has basically moved off the scene and the merchants in Central Abaco are mostly new faces and among them a lot of young, black entrepreneurs that are in the center of Marsh Harbour now conducting their small businesses. As you look at the rebuild, there’s been tremendous rebuilding thanks to the help of NGOs and the resilience of the Abaco people.”
Pastor Mills also spoke about some of the challenges Abaco residents still face. “A lot of the insurance companies, their rates have skyrocketed and many of them are just saying look we’re not even interested in giving you coverage that’s once of the dilemmas we are facing here now. If you’re on the water front or if you’re near the water they’re just saying look we’re not going to give your coverage,” he said.
