A woman in the Bahamas says a family dog saved her sister-in-law after she was trapped under a collapsed roof for 17 hours during Hurricane Dorian
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images
A Bahamas resident told reporters on Tuesday that she was reunited with her sister-in-law after she was trapped underneath the roof of her home for 17 hours during Hurricane Dorian.
Sandra Cooke, a resident of Nassau, Bahamas, told the New York Times that her family on the Abaco Islands could not locate her sister-in-law, Angela, after she was pinned under the roof as Hurricane Dorian battered the islands.
The family dog was able to locate Angela, who was removed from the debris and transported to safety via helicopter.
Hurricane Dorian pummeled parts of the Bahamas with devastating hurricane conditions for almost two full days. The storm has caused the deaths of at least 30 people in the Bahamas.
A Bahamas resident says her sister-in-law survived Hurricane Dorian, which lashed the island as a Category 5 storm on Sunday, with help from the family's pet dog.
Sandra Cooke, a resident of Nassau, the country's capital, told the New York Times that her sister-in-law, Angela Cooke, was trapped under the roof of her collapsed home on the Abaco Islands as Dorian pounded the island with up to 30 inches of rain, and 185 mph winds.
Sandra said Angela was lodged under the roof for 17 hours as the family was unable to locate her amongst the debris. She said that a family dog, which she called a "shepard" without specifying the breed, was able to find her.
Neighbors came to help lift the roof off of Angela once there was a break in the storm, Sandra said, and took her to their house.
"Today was the first day we've been able to get her out," she told the Bahamas Press. "She can't walk."
Angela was reunited with her family on Wednesday after a private helicopter transported her to Nassau to meet up with her sister-in-law.
Read More: Before-and-after images show how Hurricane Dorian's storm surge put a Bahamas airport underwater.
According to Reuters, Sandra is the founder of a local aid group called Restoration Abaco, which has partnered with international aid group Project Hope.
Screenshot/CBS News
The group has asked on its Facebook page for people to donate bottled water, canned goods, and hygiene products.
Dorian hit the Bahamas as a Category 5 storm on Sunday, with sustained wind speeds of 185 mph and brought with it a storm surge that reached as high as 23 feet in some parts of the island.
It tied the record for the strongest Atlantic hurricane landfall ever, battering the Caribbean nation for three days with strong winds and heavy rains that caused flooding so catastrophic that the runway of the main airport in the Bahamas was left completely underwater.
Part of the reason the destruction on the island was so devastating was that the storm completely stalled over the Bahamas, pummeling it with devastating hurricane conditions for almost two full days. The storm has caused the deaths of at least 30 people in the Bahamas.
Here are some of the organizations helping on the islands, and how you can contribute to the victims impacted in the Bahamas.
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