ORLANDO, FLA. (WSVN) - One sister flew to Florida after losing it all in the Great Abaco Island, forcing her and her family to now start over in the states.
Two sisters were reunited after Hurricane Dorian slammed the Bahamas.
“Just overwhelmed to get out,” said Chiante Russell, a Hurricane Dorian survivor.
Russell flew out to meet her sister in Orlando after the Category 5 storm flooded her home on Great Abaco Island.
“The toilet started to flood. The water just ‘goosh goosh’. Everything started to shake,” said Russell.
The rising water forced her, her husband, and their two young children to head to a shelter.
“The shelters are horrible. All of them are horrible,” said Russell. “Everyone had to fight for their own food. There wasn’t enough water.”
As soon as they heard flights were available, they got their tickets and headed to Nassau.
“Abaco is no longer. I don’t know when it will ever become Abaco again,” said Russell.
The moment was bittersweet for Russell as she thought of all the people who did not make it.
“We lost a lot. I lost a lot of my friends,” said Russell.
But for now, she said she is happy to be with her family in Florida as they work to start over.
“I’m trying to get away . I’m trying to get my kids away from it, because like I said, there’s nothing left to go back to this point,” said Russell.
Russell said she was grateful they could leave the Bahamas when they did because the day they arrived Florida was her son’s birthday.
Copyright 2025 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.