Page 40 - Patrick Oppmann News Today

Time now. cnns patrick oppmann is in freeport bahamas, which is the main city on grand bahama island, and that area was hit the hardest, so what, patrick, does recovery look like? because you have been weathering the storm yourself the whole way while youve been reporting on it. >> reporter: its already been a week, fred, and yet for so many of the bahamians weve gotten to know, you would think the storm happened yesterday. you asked me what recovery looks like, i dont know. i havent seen very m...

People desperately need food and water before time runs out. >> a lot of people have lost most of their clothe, water, need food. basic stuff right now. >> reporter: and every survival story you hear, ana, just sounds like an impossible feat against all odds and we still have no idea how many people didnt make it. ana? >> patrick oppmann reporting and incredible work youre doing. thank you. >> a krauz ship hcruise ship ha with more than 1400 evacuees onboard. all of the evacuees are properly doc...

To stabilize and turn around and people either need to get off the island or be posted somewhere. but, certainly, they need to have running, clean water. they need to be able to cook and feed themselves and have, you know, a way to dispose of their waste. but certainly the priority right now appears to be on any survivors, if there is hope of survivors and while were there we saw helicopters throughout the day flying and sometimes we would go very low and hover there for a while and thats what r...

Responders, all veterans of large-scale natural disasters tell us the smell of death is everywhere. in these areas where so many homes were swept away. cnns patrick oppmann is in the city of freeport. how far are you able to safely travel from where you are and what have you seen? >> reporter: you go 15 minutes from where i am, and you so houses -- every house in neighborhood after neighborhood that are just under water the other day. we were there when they were doing rescues from a bridge whic...

Willing to guide the rescue teams, about about pointing them in. in the relatives, the neighbors, the bahamian volunteers are the first responders. the hurricane was still going on and about pulling this many up out of frees and in the last few days, we people being badly hurt. its been the relatives who brought them to the hospital none nf and a family came u and said snchl and we said do you have any luck? and they said, no, weve gone to their house but we tonight know where they are. thats wh...

>> wow. that is heavy, heavy stuff, patrick. you talk about having to share your satellite phone and that was one of my questions given how destroyed everything is. the infrastructure clearly not there. how are people communicating? how do they know where to go for help and what kind of help is coming? >> reporter: they dont know what kind of help is coming because it hasnt come so far, and again, the government of the bahamas is just obviously overwhelmed here by the need, by the destruction, b...

See a coast guard plane go overhead. most of the aircraft we see are u.s. aircraft because were only 50 miles from the united states. bahamian people have a long friendship with america and they are thankful, not only the prime minister and that is the one side sign of hope we have right now, people are happy to see the planes. everything else is just not true. >> im sure the bahamian people that youre now bringing town that r -- down that rumor and nobody wants anything to stand in the way of d...

Like, were not hearing anything from them. >> good news, romia contacted us tonight. her family has been located. all are safe, but there are thousands still looking so, please, stay connected. thank you for watching. "cnn tonight" with d. lemon starts right now. you know, d., we like to give the audience a little bit of hope. let them know that some good things are happening as well, but theres a lot of hurt in the bahamas. >> a lot of hurt. theres some good things happening on the ground with ...

In the dark. and of course in the bahamas each new day brings a clearer view of just how bad the destruction there is. hundreds of people are still missing. and while the official death toll has risen to 30, the countrys health minister warns the final number will be, in his words, huge. well, we have the story covered for you. our paula newton and patrick oppmann are both in the bahamas for us and meteorologist derek van dam is standing by in charleston, south carolina. first, lets get more on ...

Here. >> thats important to remind people. youve been through this almost every year for the last three or four years with these storms and the recovery over florence is is still going on there. mayor jones, thank you for being with us. get ready. you have to go out and assess the damage as soon as it gets light out. we appreciate you being with us. >> all right. thank you. well, the death toll from dorian has gone up in the bahamas. it is now at 30 people but the countrys health minister says...