Jeanne pummeled the Bahamas for 12 hours on Saturday with sustained winds of 115 mph as the eye made a direct hit on the island of Abaco, population 20,000. The storm also battered Freeport, the second-largest city in the Bahamian island chain.
Thousands of evacuees fled to shelters set up in schools and churches on the islands of Eleuthera, Abaco and Grand Bahama.
Neighborhoods of roofless houses were swamped under 6 feet of water in Freeport on Sunday, a day after Hurricane Jeanne blew through the Bahamas, kicking up furniture, appliances and debris that was still littering the roads since Hurricane Frances struck earlier this month.
There were no reports of deaths or serious injuries in the Bahamas from the Category 3 storm that killed more than 1,500 people in Haiti.
Some areas of Freeport were without electricity and water early Sunday, although those services were expected to be restored by today. The city’s airport on Grand Bahama island, which was submerged Saturday, reopened Sunday, officials said. Fortunately, there was no flooding at the new international terminal.
Throughout the storm frantic residents called in to the Government radio station, ZNS, for help – most of them as their roofs blew off or their houses disintegrated with wind and rain. Several people were rescued due to the tireless efforts of the station staff and numerous volunteers located on Grand Bahama island.
