Seashore Church of the Nazarene Collecting Goods, Funds, for Bahamian Relief

ERMA — Lower Township resident Almond Weech was on Grand Bahama for two separate funerals when Hurricane Dorian bore down on the Bahamas Sept. 1.
Weech, a native of Bahamas, is the Compassionate Ministries coordinator at the Seashore Community Church of the Nazarene on Seashore Road, Erma.
He arrived in the Bahamas Aug. 29, expecting to attend the funeral, scheduled for Sept. 4, of an uncle who lived in Nassau and then Sept. 7, attend the funeral of an aunt who lived on Grand Bahama.
However, by the evening of Sept. 1, they were starting to experience gusting wind and rain in Nassau, but they thought they would be relatively safe from the storm.
“Based on the communication we had at that time, we were given information that Nassau would not be directly hit,” Weech stated in a release.
The area was getting 40 to 50 mph winds, which Weech said is considered normal for hurricanes. Before the arrival of Hurricane Dorian, people were moving around making normal preparations — securing houses and belongings, stocking up on water and food.
Abaco Island, however, got word to prepare for a Category 3 to a Category 4 hurricane. “It changed quickly to a Category 5,” Weech stated. People began to be evacuated to Nassau and areas of higher ground.
Anxiety levels started to grow for those who had relatives on Abaco and Grand Bahama, which eventually took the brunt of the storm, with Hurricane Dorian stalling over the Bahamas for over 18 hours.
Once the storm made landfall, their anxiety only grew as they began to lose power and communications. “The situation very quickly deteriorated. We went from receiving some communication to none at all,” Weech stated. When there was communication it was mainly by text messaging. Safe family members would text their relatives and tell them how to get help. Those who remained were on an island, and once the hurricane made landfall there was no way emergency services could get to those who stayed.
Weech said some of those people undoubtedly believed Dorian would be like other hurricanes they had been through, not realizing it would develop into a Category 5 storm.
In a Category 5, wind speeds are expected to exceed 157 mph. During Hurricane Dorian, wind speeds reached as high as 183 mph.
The death toll from the storm reached 50, with 1,300 people still unaccounted.
Weech’s relative, Ralph Hepburn, lives and works in Nassau, where he works as an accountant/financial controller. He also the secretary for the Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce.
Recently, Hepburn stated some people were still leaving Abaco, which included some trying to get to the United States. Hepburn said some of those who were turned back had not been denied entry by the U.S. government but had been refused passage by private companies, which had not checked with the U.S. Border Patrol.
Hepburn said some people have still been denied access to the heavily damaged areas, but progress is being made.
“They are now in the cleanup and rebuilding stage,” he stated. Hepburn said one of the most urgent messages is that the Bahamas needs its tourists to return. “What people need to understand is that the entire Bahamas were not destroyed. The storm affected two of the 23 inhabited islands in the Bahamas. Other areas are open for business and tourists need to come so we can get back to work,” he said.
The church is setting up a GoFundMe page for the relief effort.
Pastor Tim West said as soon as events started unfolding in the wake of Hurricane Dorian, dozens of people contacted him asking how they could help. For many of them, Weech was their connection to the Bahamas, and they wanted to know what they could do to provide relief for hurricane victims.
West said he sat down with Weech and they decided the best way to help was via a GoFundMe page. The site, which was titled, “We Care,” was to be launched Sept. 16 or Sept. 17. West said all the support information will be posted on the church website, www.seashorecommunitychurch.com, and the church’s Facebook and Twitter accounts.
For information, call the Seashore Community Church of the Nazarene at (609) 886-6186.
The church is collecting items to be sent to the Bahamas including:
Canned meats-vegetables-soup, all pasta, macaroni and cheese, instant rice, regular oats, cream of wheat, sugar, salt, canned or baked beans, cold cereals, peanut butter, jelly, apple sauce, canned fruit, children’s snack foods, juices, coffee or tea, toothpaste/brushes, shampoo, conditioners, toilet paper, and paper towels.
The church will also collect clothing items such as men’s, women’s and children’s underwear and socks.