Bahamas News
Elsa Menaces Caribbean on its Way to South East of the US
July 6, 2021 – One day after becoming the first hurricane of the 2021 Atlantic season, Elsa weakened back into a tropical storm Saturday as it zeroed in on western Haiti. Conditions in these areas were already deteriorating due to the storm’s strong winds, heavy rain and inundating storm surge.
The storm underwent rapid intensification one day earlier, becoming a hurricane early Friday morning as it raced toward the Caribbean Islands.
Within 24 hours, Elsa went from tropical-storm strength with 40-mph winds to a Category 1 hurricane with 75-mph winds. By its maximum-sustained winds increasing by at least 35 mph within 24 hours, the storm’s strengthening just met the criteria set by the National Hurricane Center qualifying as “rapid intensification.”
AccWeather forecasters are now keeping a close eye on the tropical system as it is expected to approach the United States after moving through the Caribbean through the weekend.
Elsa was about 175 miles southeast of Montego Bay, Jamaica, packing sustained winds of 65 mph and moving quickly toward the west-northwest at 17 mph at 8 p.m. EDT on Saturday. Tropical-storm-force winds extended out up to 125 miles out from its center. A category 1 hurricane has maximum-sustained winds starting at 74 mph.
The storm weakened on Saturday after peaking in strength on Friday, when its maximum-sustained winds were around 85 mph during the afternoon and evening hours. But the storm has also already been blamed for widespread damage and power outages, including in the islands of Barbados and St. Vincent.
One death was reported in Soufriere, St. Lucia, according to the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency. About 30 per cent of customers on the island were without power on Saturday due to damaged power lines. Two other deaths were reported in the Dominican Republic, according to the director for the Dominican Republic’s center for emergency operations.
Elsa ripped roofs off homes, toppled trees and caused flooding in Barbados before introducing heavy rain and wind in St. Vincent Friday. Many power outages were also blamed on Elsa.
As the storm tore through Barbados, Wilfred A. Abrahams, the island’s Minister of Home Affairs Information and Public Affairs, urged residents of the island nation to shelter in place, adding that folks should only leave their homes if the structures are damaged. Authorities in Haiti urged people to evacuate if they lived near water or mountain flanks.
Elsa is also blamed for two deaths in the Dominican Republic; a 15-year old boy and a 75-year old woman.
As of Saturday, AccuWeather forecasters say Elsa is most likely to enter the eastern Gulf of Mexico and approach Florida early this week.
Photo by: Marlon St. Brice
By Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
May 14, 2022 – Weeks ago the world marked an awful milestone 6 million COVID-19 deaths now the WHO says the real number may be almost three times higher.
In a recent press release the organization said new estimates from its data show that the full death toll or excess mortality associated directly or indirectly with the COVID-19 pandemic between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2021 was approximately 14.9 million but might be as high as 16.6 million.
The organization explained that, “Excess mortality is calculated as the difference between the number of deaths that have occurred and the number that would be expected in the absence of the pandemic based on data from earlier
years.”
Basically the excess mortality rate tells us how many people will be alive were it not for COVID. It is important to know what that figures including spikes associated with omicron are not included in this data set so the number could very well be higher.
“These sobering data not only point to the impact of the pandemic but also to the need for all countries to invest in more resilient health systems that can sustain essential health services during crises, including stronger health information systems,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director of the organization.
South-east Asia and the Americas were the worst hit by the pandemic in terms of death toll.
WHO data shows 20 countries, containing approximately 50% of the global population, account for over 80% of the estimated global excess mortality for the January 2020 to December 2021 period.
These countries are: Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Germany, India, Indonesia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Italy, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, the Russian Federation, South Africa, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United States of America (USA).
WHO COVID DEATHS Photo caption: File photo in Jakarta; at a time when there were fears about running out of space to bury its dead.
(Supplied: Arbain Rambey)
Bahamas News
Two Babies die from toxic Similac, TCI Ministry of Health asks stores to pull bad batches off Shelves
By Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TurksandCaicos, May 14, 2022 – Two infants have died as a result of bad baby food, and the Turks and Caicos Islands Ministry of Health renewed calls to stay away from Similac and several other baby formulas.
The warning for parents over fears of contaminated baby food came in a press release on Monday and advised all local suppliers, healthcare facilities and parents to read the labels and check for a list of brands and batches.
“Discontinue the sale and/or use of certain batches of powdered infant formulas manufactured by Abbott, namely: Similac, Alimentum and EleCare.”
The products were recalled by the US Food and Drug Administration after consumers complained of illness in infants from Cronobacter sakazakii and Salmonella Newport.
The TCI Health Ministry advises that the bacteria can cause rare bloodstream and central nervous system infections and has been associated with severe intestinal infection and blood poisoning, especially in newborns.
In the worse cases, two babies in the US have died.
The ministry statement said: “Consumers are advised not to use the recalled products if the first two digits of the code are 22 through 37 and the code on the container contains K8, SH or Z2 and has an expiration date of April 2022 or later.”
#TheBahamas, May 13, 2022 – The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Investments & Aviation (BMOTIA) is excited to announce the return of the Annual Pineapple Festival following a twoyear hiatus due to Covid-19. Deemed by organisers as the “sweetest” festival in The Bahamas, the 33rd Pineapple Festival will take place 3 – 4 June in charming Gregory Town, Eleuthera.
The annual Pineapple Festival, created in 1987 to honour pineapple farmers of Gregory Town and their contribution to the farming industry, would have marked 35 years if not for the pandemic. Agriculture heritage, in the settlement
often referred to as “Pineapple City”, is the focal point of the weekend festival where locals invite visitors to indulge with them in the naturally sweet like sugar, tropical taste of pineapples.
Festivalgoers will experience lots of food, lots of fun, interactive games and musical entertainment for people of all ages to enjoy. For the kids, there will be “Kids World” filled with fun games and sports to enjoy all day long. Fierce culinary competitions, pineapple eating contest, plaiting of the pineapple pole are just a few of the activities persons can take part in at at this sweet island festival.
The two-day concert segment of the festival begins on Friday, 3 June, and will be headlined by
Eleuthera’s very own in-house band, Team Blue Waters, with exciting performances by Ebony, Puzzle, Stileet and many more popular local performing artists. On Saturday, 4 June, the final day of the concert, musical entertainment will continue with a second performance by Team Blue Waters, and new performances by Sweet Emily, Funky D and Cupid.
This years 33rd Pineapple Festival is sponsored by Disney Cruise Line, Aliv, Team Bluewaters,
Daddy Joe’s, The Cove Eleuthera, Kalik and The Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources.
For more information, contact the Eleuthera Tourism Office at 242-332-2142 or visit
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