Program Summary
Disaster Profile
On September 1, 2019, Hurricane Dorian made landfall as a Category 5 hurricane in The Bahamas with wind speeds in excess of 185mph, lashing The Bahamian islands of Great Abaco (pop. ~17,200) and Grand Bahama (pop. ~51,000). After striking The Bahamas, Dorian’s travelling speed slowed to 1 mph over Grand Bahama, prolonging the island’s exposure to life-threatening storm surges of 18-23 feet above normal tide levels. Dorian is the strongest hurricane on record for The Bahamas and has tied a record for the strongest Atlantic hurricane to make landfall.
Our Work
With immense support from our local and global partners, we’re committed to performing continuous work for the next two years, with an immediate focus on response capacity in some of the hardest-hit areas. Our long-term recovery program will target reconstruction in schools and critical community infrastructure (e.g. health clinics)
Our teams are working tirelessly to get schools back up and running in Marsh Harbour. We are currently working on six schools and have added other community-based facilities like a library and clinics to our queue. We are also excited to announce that we will also begin working on teachers’ homes that were affected by the hurricane.
A special thank you to our long-term partner, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, and generous supporters for helping us reach the $4M match goal. While this is incredible, we have found the scope and scale of the devastation to be even more extreme than first estimated. This leads us to estimate we’ll need a minimum of $6M for the recovery work over the next two years. We appreciate your continued support to assist The Bahamas on the long road to recovery.
All Hands and Hearts arrives early and stays until the job is done. The time to get involved is now!
Program Work
Our teams are working tirelessly to get schools back up and running in Marsh Harbour. We are currently working on six schools and have added other community-based facilities like a library and clinics to our queue. We are also excited to announce that we will also begin working on teachers’ homes that were affected by the hurricane.
Base Work Base Work
Our bases are communal living spaces we strive to make feel like home for each and every volunteer. Every day, a group of volunteers are asked to remain on base for the day to perform a base clean up to ensure the living space remains a clean, tidy and welcoming environment. Additionally, we often request help for special projects from volunteers who possess unique skills; these may include translating, plumbing, electrical work, architectural expertise and more. By leveraging the skills of our volunteers, outside of the typical volunteer work, we are able to better support communities.
Base Work Base Work
Our bases are communal living spaces we strive to make feel like home for each and every volunteer. Every day, a group of volunteers are asked to remain on base for the day to perform a base clean up to ensure the living space remains a clean, tidy and welcoming environment. Additionally, we often request help for special projects from volunteers who possess unique skills; these may include translating, plumbing, electrical work, architectural expertise and more. By leveraging the skills of our volunteers, outside of the typical volunteer work, we are able to better support communities.
Chainsawing Chainsawing
After high-wind disasters, such as hurricanes or tornadoes, impacted communities are often littered with fallen trees and debris. Our chainsaw teams remove fallen trees and branches that restrict access to homes, as well as fallen trees from around properties, making it safer for residents.
Chainsawing Chainsawing
After high-wind disasters, such as hurricanes or tornadoes, impacted communities are often littered with fallen trees and debris. Our chainsaw teams remove fallen trees and branches that restrict access to homes, as well as fallen trees from around properties, making it safer for residents.
Debris Removal Debris Removal
Debris removal is classified as the removal of personal items, appliances, furniture or vegetation that were damaged or destroyed by the disaster and are found outside of the physical structure. This step is considered complete when all items to be discarded have been removed from the property being worked on and any remaining undamaged items are salvaged and placed in a safe location. For information on removal of items within the structure, see mucking and gutting.
Debris Removal Debris Removal
Debris removal is classified as the removal of personal items, appliances, furniture or vegetation that were damaged or destroyed by the disaster and are found outside of the physical structure. This step is considered complete when all items to be discarded have been removed from the property being worked on and any remaining undamaged items are salvaged and placed in a safe location. For information on removal of items within the structure, see mucking and gutting.
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