WEB DESK

US Agency for International Development (USAID) has compared the damage from Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas to that of a nuclear bomb.

Head of the USAID, Mark Green said he had taken a flight to observe the damage caused by the storm on Grand Bahama and the Abacos islands.

Dorian ripped through the Bahamas last Sunday with category five winds with some gusts reaching 300km/h (200mph).

So far 43 people are confirmed dead however the number is expected to rise.Prime Minister Hubert Minnis called the loss of life “catastrophic and devastating”.

Mr Green told Reuters news agency: “I was struck by the focused nature of the devastation.

“There are parts of Abaco and the Bahamas that don’t show a great deal of damage, and then there are clusters and communities that were devastated, almost as though nuclear bombs were dropped on them.”

USAID says it is working with the government of the Bahamas to provide emergency shelter, medical care, food and water.