Haiti got hit hard by Hurricane Matthew yesterday. But next door to Florida, the Bahamas could get bruised just as badly tonight - especially since this is the worst storm the Bahamas’ main island has faced in 87 years.
After pounding Haiti and swiping Cuba on Tuesday, Matthew appeared this morning to have weakened. But as it heads north for the Bahamas, it’s regaining ferocious Category 4 strength.
And it’s headed for the Bahamas’ most populous island – New Providence – home to the capital, Nassau. New Providence residents say their island’s eight-decade-long streak of hurricane luck may have run out.
“New Providence hasn’t had a major hit from a major hurricane since 1929," notes Nassau book editor Erica Wells. "We’ve always managed to miss the big ones; they usually turn at the last minute. But it looks like we’re going to get the real deal this time, and everyone is taking it very seriously.”
Wells also points out that if New Providence and its 250,000 residents get hit, it compounds the storm problem for the rest of the island chain.
“This is where all the major infrastructure is," she says. "That puts us at a disadvantage for helping out islands that are also going to be badly affected. [Hurricane] Joaquin hit a year ago this week, and those islands that were hit in the southern Bahamas are still recovering from that storm.”
The great 1929 hurricane that hit New Providence killed 134 people and lasted three days.
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