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Bahamian Government Revises Number Of Missing After Dorian Down To 1,300

"The number of people registered missing with the Bahamas government is going down daily," a spokesman for the Bahamian National Emergency Management Agency assured the public.
Ramon Espinosa
/
AP

As people continue to search for loved ones in the rubble across Bahamian islands, the government now says the number of missing is down to 1,300 — a drastic reduction from previous records of 2,500.

"The number of people registered missing with the Bahamas government is going down daily," Carl Smith, a spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency, or NEMA, explainedto reporters, adding that many could be unaccounted for in shelters.

The latest figures come as yet another potentially damaging storm is on its way.

A tropical depression is expected to turn into a tropical storm and hit the central and northwestern Bahamas with winds and heavy rains by Saturday, accordingto the National Hurricane Center.

"The disturbance will more than likely take a very similar path to Dorian," chief meteorologist Shavonne Moxey-Bonamy said.

The Associated Press reported the approaching storm slowed efforts to bring aid to the Abaco islands on Friday. The islands were decimated by Dorian, which struck the islands on Sept. 1.

The death toll on the islands remains 50, according to the most recent NEMA count on Friday, but Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said on Wednesday that he expected that number to significantly increase.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Vanessa Romo is a reporter for NPR's News Desk. She covers breaking news on a wide range of topics, weighing in daily on everything from immigration and the treatment of migrant children, to a war-crimes trial where a witness claimed he was the actual killer, to an alleged sex cult. She has also covered the occasional cat-clinging-to-the-hood-of-a-car story.