FREEPORT, Grand Bahama (WSVN) — A renowned celebrity chef continued to go the extra mile to help the residents of the Bahamas affected by Hurricane Dorian’s devastation.
José Andrés landed on Freeport aboard the relief yacht Global, Sunday. The Iron Chef America star immediately headed to a makeshift kitchen set up nearby where volunteer chefs have been cooking all day.
Andrés has feeding sites throughout the Bahamas, and he said he’s seen the worst of the devastation.
“This is like war, like somebody came and did war and destruction. It was total,” he said. “When that happens, it is very hard to do anything, quite frankly.”
It might be difficult, but Andrés’ organization, World Central Kitchen, has already fed tens of thousands of people.
For the celebrity chef, it’s not enough.
“Only two or three more helicopters, only. We could be feeding three times more people then we’ve fed,” he said.
Meanwhile, Reinaldo Hinsey, an employee at Port of Freeport, took a 7News crew to the area hardest hit by Dorian on Grand Bahama. The storm surge there was 20 to 25 feet when the storm swept through the island nation last week.
“When the surge came, the families had to go on their roofs because it was so high,” said Hinsey.
Survivors have been left with almost nothing, and because electricity is still unavailable on Grand Bahama, officials said, they are running out of food and water.
“This food is so necessary, because you want to keep pushing food into the community. You want to make sure people are eating enough meals a day,” said Bahamas Senate President Katherine Smith.
7News cameras captured Miami Beach firefighters helping offload food on Sunday. For now, Andrés’ volunteer chefs will continue cooking outside in Freeport, but they plan to take over a kitchen at a nearby hotel and start whipping up even more meals.
“If a little NGO has done all these thousands of meals in a very clean way, very organized way, very systematic way and adapting to the situation, imagine what multimillion or billion-dollar organizations should be doing,” said Andrés.
World Central Kitchen said they plan to stay in the Bahamas for weeks or months depending on the need for food and water. They hope that once electricity is restored across Grand Bahama, fresh food will once again come into the island.
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