This archive report was first published on 4 September 2019.
Published on September 4, 2019, residents of Grand Bahama Island are still reeling from the devastating effects of Hurricane Dorian.
As the storm made landfall, many residents faced a terrifying choice: stay in their rapidly-flooding homes or risk their lives to seek shelter.
For Tim Aylen and his family, the decision was made all the more difficult by the sheer force of the storm. 'You open the door, and the water's just pouring in,' he recalled. 'You think, 'No, that's going to flood the house.'
Despite the chaos, Mr. Aylen and his family managed to escape their home, but not without leaving behind their belongings. They were forced to wade through chest-deep storm surges to reach safety.
Others, like Sam Teicher, an American who had moved to the island to set up a coral farm, were not so fortunate. His project, which aimed to restore dying reefs, was destroyed by the storm.
'The water seemed to stretch for miles,' Mr. Teicher said. 'It was kind of like looking at those scenes of bayous with the trees coming out of the swamp — except that's where people live.'
