More wind and rain coming to beleaguered Bahamas

A developing tropical storm could add to the misery of people recovering from Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas. The National Hurricane Center expects a tropical depression or storm to form, bringing heavy wind and rain to the islands by late Friday. Forecasters also issued a storm watch for parts of Florida’s eastern coast.

Can the Bahamas take another storm? More rain will slow recovery efforts in a country still reeling from Dorian, a Category 5 hurricane that brought winds greater than 185 mph and severe flooding. The official death toll in the Bahamas has reached 50 people, but about 1,300 people are still missing nearly two weeks after the hurricane. Bahamian Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said he expects the number of dead to keep rising. Cleanup just started on the decimated northern islands, and a preliminary report estimated the storm caused about $7 billion in damage.

Dig deeper: Read Laura G. Singleton’s report on the recovery efforts in the Bahamas, along with information about the relief agencies at work on the islands.