Bahamas News
2018 List of Emergency Shelters for All Bahamas
#Bahamas, June 25, 2018 –
2018 LIST OF EMERGENCY SHELTERS
NEW PROVIDENCE
| NO. | DISTRICT AND NAME | LOCATION |
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WESTERN DISTRICT |
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Mount Moriah Baptist Church | Farrington Road |
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New Providence Community Centre | Blake Road |
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Hillview Seventh Day Adventist Church | Tonique Williams Darling Hwy |
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Love Worth Finding Ministries | Golden Isles Road |
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Sir Kendal Isaac’s Gymnasium | University Drive |
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St. Paul’s Anglican Church | Lyford Cay |
| CENTRAL DISTRICT | ||
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Calvary Haitian Baptist Church | West Avenue |
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Church of God of Prophecy | East & Lifebouy Streets |
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Salvation Army | Meadow Street |
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St. John’s Native Baptist Church | Meeting Street |
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Ebenezer Mission Baptist Church | St. Charles Vincent Street |
| EASTERN DISTRICT | ||
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New Dimension Church of God | Joe Farrington Road |
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Fox Hill Community Center | Joe Farrington Road |
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Church of God Auditorium | Joe Farrington Road |
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Epiphany Anglican Church | Prince Charles Drive |
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Epworth Hall/Ebenezer Methodist Church | Shirley Street |
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Holy Cross Anglican Church | Highbury Park off Soldier Road |
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Kemp Road Ministries | Kemp Road |
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Pilgrim Baptist Church | St. James Road |
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Salvation Army | Mackey Street |
| SOUTHERN DISTRICT | ||
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Agape Full Gospel Baptist Church | Kennedy Subdivision |
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Golden Gates Assembly | Carmichael Road |
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New Bethlehem Baptist Church | Independence Drive |
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Southwest Cathedral Church of God | Carmichael Road |
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All Saints Anglican Parish | Joan’s Heights |
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Remnant Tabernacle of Praise | Carmichael Road |
HURRICANE SHELTERS IN THE FAMILY ISLANDS
2018 HURRICANE SEASON
ABACO
North Abaco
Amy Roberts Primary School – Green Turtle Cay
Grand Cay All Age School – Grand Cay
Central Abaco
Central Abaco Primary School – Dundas Town
South Abaco
Sandy Point Community Center – Ernest Dean Highway
ACKLINS
Command Centre – Spring Point Acklins
ANDROS
North Andros
Church of God of Prophecy – Conch Sound
Church of God of Prophecy – Mastic Point Town
Nicholls’s Town Primary School – Nicholls’s Town
Bamsi – Barc
Police Station (Command Centre) – Nicholls’s Town
First Baptist Church – San Andros
B.A. Newton Primary – Red Bays
Central Andros
Church of God – Cargill Creek
Pentecostal Church – Bowen Sound
Miracle Revival International – Calabash Bay
New Highway Pentecostal Church – Blanket Sound
New Highway Pentecostal Church – Love Hill
St. Bartholomew Church – Bearing Point
Police Station (Command Centre) – Administration Complex
South Andros
Long Bay Cay Preschool – Long Bay Cays, South Andros
Deep Creek Primary School – Deep Creek
Friendship Native Baptist Church – The Bluff, South Andros
St. Paul’s Baptist Church – Black Point
MANGROVE CAY
Mangrove Cay High School – Swains
Burnt Rock Primary – Burnt Rock
BERRY ISLAND
Church of God of Prophecy – Great Harbour Cay
BIMINI & CAT CAY
Gateway – Bimini
Big Game Fishing Hotel – Bimini
Clinic – Bimini
CAT ISLAND
St. Andrew’s Anglican – Arthur’s Town
Lovely Zion Baptist Church – The Bluff
Sea View Seventh Day Adventist – Dumfries
Holy Redeemer Catholic Church – New Bight
Mt. Sinai – New Bight
Zion Baptist Church – Old Bight
Zion Baptist Church – McQueen’s
St. Mark’s Baptist Church – Port Howe
Children’s Home – Old Bight
CROOKED ISLAND & LONG CAY
Ezekiel Thompson Hall – Cabbage Hill
Church of God of Prophecy – Cripple Hill
Deleveaux’s Residence – Major’s Cay
Don Leadon’s Residence – Albert Town
All Saints Anglican Church/Priest Residence – Church Grove
Command Centre (Ezekiel Thompson Hall) – Cabbage Hill
ELEUTHERA
North Eleuthera District, Mainland, Spanish Wells & Harbour Island
The Haitian Baptist People Church – The Bluff, North Eleuthera
New Jerusalem Church – Blackwood, North Eleuthera
Little Scholars Pre-School – Lower Bogue, North Eleuthera
Charles Wesley Methodist Church – Lower Bogue, North Eleuthera
Mission Church of God – Upper Bogue, North Eleuthera
St. Johns Parish Hall – Harbour Island
New Alliance Church of God – Harbour Island
Harbour Island Public Library – Harbour Island
Zion Methodist Church – Current Island
The Current Community Centre – The Current, North Eleuthera
Central Eleuthera
Governor’s Harbour Primary – Governor’s Harbour
The Salvation Army – Palmetto Point
Church of the Nazarene – Palmetto Point
George E. Johnson Memorial Centre
(St. Mark’s Methodist Church Hall) – Hatchet Bay
Camp Symonette – James Cistern
South Eleuthera
Church of God of Prophecy – Tarpum Bay
Rock Sound Primary School – Rock Sound
Green Castle Primary School – Green Castle
Wemyss’ Bight Primary School – Wemyss Bight
Deep Creek Primary School – Deep Creek
EXUMA
Exuma & Exuma Cays
St. Mary Anglican Church – Williams Town
The New Mt. Olive Union Baptist Church – Hartswell
St. Andrew’s Community Centre – George Town
Bethel Union Baptist Church – Ramsey
Mt. Hermon Union Baptist Church – Mt. Thompson
Palestine Union Baptist Church – The Forest
Ebenezer Baptist Church – Farmer’s Hill
Mt. Sinai Baptist Church – Stuart Manor
St. Theresa’s Catholic Church – George Town
Exuma Resource Centre – Hooper’s Bay
St. Margaret’s Anglican Church – Harts/Steventon
Ebenezer Baptist Church – Barraterre
Calvary Mission Baptist Church – Rolleville
St. Peter’s Union Baptist Church – Forbes Hill
St. Matthew’s Union Baptist Church – The Ferry
St. Mary Anglican Church – Farmer’s Cay
Mt. Olive Union Baptist Church – Staniel Cay
GRAND BAHAMA
City Of Freeport
Foster B. Pestina Center/Pro-Cathedral of
Christ the King (Special Needs Shelter) – East Atlantic Drive & Pioneers Way
First Baptist Church Hall – Columbus Drive & Nansen Ave.
Central Church of God Hall – Pioneers Way West & Coral Rd.
Jack Haywood High School – Wildcat Ave. & Pioneers Loop East
Cancer Association – West Atlantic Drive & Norma Headley Dr.
Shiloh Seventh-Day Adventist Church – Torcross Road
Mack Town To Pinder’s Point
St. George’s High school Gymnasium – Sunset Highway off East Beach Drive
East Grand Bahama
Maurice Moore Primary School – Sandcombe Drive
Freeport Seventh-Day Adventist Church – Grambier and Beach Way Drive
West Grand Bahama
Church of God of Prophecy – Sea Grape, Eight Mile Rock
INAGUA
St. Philip’s Anglican Church – South Street
Zion Baptist Church – Albert’s Street
LONG ISLAND
Seymour’s Gospel Chapel – Seymour’s (North)
Highway Church of God – Doctor’s Creek
St. John’s Anglican Church – Buckley’s (South)
Francis Darville Centre (Holy Cross Anglican Church) – Hamilton’s (South)
Community Centre – Clarence Town (South)
Holy Family Anglican Church – Mortimer’s (South)
First Assemblies of God – Salt Pond
MAYAGUANA
Betsy Bay Community Centre – Betsy Bay
Berea Mission Church – Pirates Well
St. James Native Baptist Church – Abraham’s Bay
RAGGED ISLAND
Holy Innocence (Evacuation if necessary) – Ragged Island
SAN SALVADOR & RUM CAY
Gerace Research Centre – United Estates
Idell Jones Community Hall – Cockburn Town
Fellowship In Christ Kingdom Ministries – Cockburn Town
Rum Cay All Aged – Port Nelson, Rum Cay
Please note that this list would be updated to include those islands, communities or areas where emergency shelters are not yet designated.
For more information contact: Lindsay Thompson, Public Information Officer, NEMA at (242) 322-6081. 322-6085. 361-5569. Email: nemabahamas242@gmail.com. Website: www.bahamas.gov.bs. Facebook: NEMA-Bahamas
June 16, 2026 – Thirty-four years after formal negotiations began, Turks and Caicos Islands and The Bahamas are still working to define
an agreed maritime boundary between the neighbouring archipelagos, a revelation emerging from a recent Turks and Caicos Cabinet summary which has brought renewed attention to a largely overlooked diplomatic and security issue.
A May 2026 Turks and Caicos Cabinet update suggests the long-running negotiations are continuing to advance. In August 2023, Bahamas Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell said efforts to draw an exact maritime boundary had been slowed by the challenge of gathering the mapping and locational data required for the exercise. The United Kingdom, which represents Turks and Caicos in the negotiations, has offered few details beyond confirming that both sides remain committed to maritime boundary delimitation talks.
The negotiations are not centred on a territorial dispute but rather on establishing a legally recognized maritime boundary under international law. Such agreements help determine jurisdiction over fisheries, maritime resources, law enforcement activities, environmental protection and migration control in the waters between neighbouring countries.
While the discussions focus on the boundary between The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos, the exercise is part of a wider maritime delimitation effort — the process of formally marking and agreeing upon where one country’s waters end and another’s begin. In comments to The Tribune in August 2023, Mitchell referenced similar boundary considerations involving the United States and Haiti, underscoring the broader regional importance of defining maritime jurisdictions in accordance with international law.
According to public statements from The Bahamas, formal negotiations between the two sides began in 1992 and were followed by technical discussions in 1996. After years of little public activity, talks resumed in 2023 and have continued through a series of engagements involving legal, maritime, security and geographic information specialists.
The importance of maritime boundaries was underscored by former Bahamas Foreign Affairs Minister Brent Symonette during maritime boundary discussions between The Bahamas and the United States in 2009. At the time, Symonette described clearly defined maritime borders as essential to national sovereignty, law enforcement, fisheries management, environmental protection and efforts to combat illegal
migration. He also argued that agreed boundaries provide legal certainty and strengthen cooperation between neighbouring countries.
The United Kingdom, which represents Turks and Caicos in the negotiations, has offered few public details beyond confirming its commitment to the process. However, officials from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office participated alongside TCI representatives during talks held in Nassau in August 2023. The Turks and Caicos delegation included then Permanent Secretary Wesley Clerveaux, whose responsibilities included Marine Affairs.
At this stage, the TCI Cabinet has only publicly identified the area under discussion as being south of “Point 1.” Information released by The Bahamas following a 2023 meeting indicates the negotiations concern waters between the southeastern Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands. While no map has been made public, the available information places the discussions south of Bahamian islands including Mayaguana and Great Inagua. Exactly where the proposed boundary would meet the Turks and Caicos archipelago remains unclear from public records.
The latest Cabinet update offers no indication of when the negotiations may conclude. However, after more than three decades of intermittent discussions, recent references by both governments suggest efforts to finally draw the line between the two jurisdictions are continuing.
By Deandrea Hamilton
The Bahamas, June 9, 2026 – The Caribbean Development Bank’s annual gathering may have concluded in The Bahamas, but attention is already turning to Belize as leadership of the institution’s Board of Governors officially changed hands.
At the close of the 56th Annual Meeting in Nassau, outgoing Chairman and CDB Governor for The Bahamas, Michael Halkitis, formally
transferred the chairmanship to Belize’s Dr. Hon. Osmond Martinez, continuing the Bank’s tradition of rotating leadership among its regional shareholders.
The handover capped a week of discussions focused on financing development in an increasingly uncertain global environment and strengthening the Caribbean’s ability to withstand economic and climate-related shocks.
One of the meeting’s most closely watched conversations centered on how multilateral development banks can better support vulnerable Small Island Developing States.
During the President’s Chat, titled Financing the Future: MDB Strategies for Uncertain Times, CDB President Daniel Best joined leaders from the OPEC Fund, the Central American Bank for Economic Integration and the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage to discuss expanding development finance and building resilience.
OPEC Fund President Dr. Abdulhamid Alkhalifa emphasized that development institutions must move beyond responding to crises and instead help countries prepare for them.
“The real test is whether we can help countries move from strategy to implementation, and from implementation to results,” Alkhalifa said.
The discussions reflected a growing regional push for innovative financing solutions as Caribbean nations continue to confront climate vulnerability, infrastructure demands and economic uncertainty.
Beyond discussions on financing and resilience, the Annual Meeting also featured youth engagement activities, including the Youth FIRE
Forum, where young Caribbean leaders participated in conversations about innovation, entrepreneurship, leadership and the future of regional development. Senior government officials, development professionals and youth delegates exchanged ideas on the challenges and opportunities facing the next generation, reinforcing a recurring message throughout the conference: that investments made today must ultimately improve opportunities for Caribbean youth tomorrow.
That theme was echoed by Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Davis, who used the opening ceremony to challenge regional leaders to invest in future generations.
“We must invest in the one asset that no agency can ever downgrade, and that no storm can ever wash away: the mind of a Caribbean child,” Davis told delegates.
With Belize now assuming the chairmanship, regional leaders say the focus remains on transforming ideas discussed in Nassau into tangible results for Caribbean people.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
ABACO, BAHAMAS — Nearly two months after American sailor Lynette Hooker vanished in waters off Abaco, investigators are preparing to conduct a new search based on GPS and navigation data that reportedly challenges the account originally provided by her husband.
The case, which first drew international attention in early April, began when Brian Hooker told authorities that his wife was swept away after falling from an inflatable dinghy during rough conditions in waters near Elbow Cay.
Initial search efforts involving Bahamian and U.S. authorities covered extensive areas of the Sea of Abaco but failed to locate the missing Michigan woman.
Now, according to multiple U.S. media reports, investigators have obtained electronic navigation and GPS data that appears to place the couple’s dinghy in a different location from where searchers initially concentrated their efforts.
The new information has prompted authorities to reopen search operations and seek permission for divers to examine a more targeted area of the Sea of Abaco.
Unlike the broad search that followed Hooker’s disappearance, the renewed effort is expected to focus on a relatively shallow section of water, reportedly about 25 feet deep. Investigators believe the location may offer a better opportunity to recover evidence and potentially answer lingering questions surrounding the disappearance.
The latest development marks a significant shift in the investigation.
What began as a maritime search-and-rescue operation has evolved into a complex multinational investigation involving Bahamian authorities, the United States Coast Guard and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Brian Hooker was detained and questioned by Bahamian authorities following his wife’s disappearance but was later released without
charges. While investigators have never publicly accused him of a crime, reports indicate he remains a person of interest as authorities continue to examine the circumstances surrounding the case.
Hooker has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and has maintained that his wife accidentally fell overboard.
The investigation has intensified in recent weeks. U.S. authorities have reportedly seized the couple’s sailboat, Soulmate, transporting the vessel to Florida for forensic examination. Investigators are said to be reviewing onboard electronics, digital records and other potential evidence as part of the ongoing inquiry.
The case has also attracted attention from Lynette Hooker’s family, who have continued to press for answers and support efforts to locate her.
The renewed search comes after Brian Hooker returned to the United States following the disappearance. Reports indicate he cited family reasons, including concerns about his mother’s health, for leaving The Bahamas.
For investigators, however, the focus now appears fixed on the newly identified search area and the electronic evidence that led them there.
Whether the latest operation produces answers remains to be seen. But nearly eight weeks after Lynette Hooker disappeared in the waters of Abaco, authorities believe new technology and new information may finally provide a clearer picture of what happened that night.
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