Hurricane Dorian: Bahamas minister films video of water halfway up windows after refusing to evacuate home

‘That [water] has to be a minimum of about 20 feet off the ground,’ says Michael Pintard

Michael Pintard, the Bahamas’ minister for agriculture, has said he is trapped in his flooded house surrounded by a 20ft high surge of water.

The politician filmed a video of the damage to his property on Grand Lucayan Waterway in Grand Bahama, calmly showing the water level halfway up his windows and doors.

“That’s the water hitting my front home window which is extremely high,” the minister can be heard saying as he films the devastation.

“I’m already completely flooded out.

“That’s my kitchen window that water is hitting. And that has to be a minimum of about 20 feet off the ground.”

At least five people have died in the Bahamas, after Dorian made landfall on 1 September, in Elbow Cay on the Abaco islands.

The category 4 storm has since halted for a day over the Caribbean country, flooding the islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama with walls of water that reached the second floors of buildings and trapped people in attics.

“So, this is what I’m facing at the moment,” Mr Pintard says in the video.

“And I have neighbours that are in a far worse position than me and my family.

“And the waves hitting there, that is over 15ft from the ground.”

The video was posted on Twitter by Kionne McGhee, a member of the Florida House of Representatives, who said Mr Pintard had sent it to him.

Some social media commenters demanded to know why Mr Pintard had not evacuated his home.

Authorities in the Bahamas had urged residents in affected areas to evacuate before the storm made landfall.

Mr Pintard was helping with last minute storm preparation efforts on Grand Bahama Island on Saturday, according to The New York Times.

He brought a team of workers to residents’ houses, to nail plywood on roofs and doors.

At least 21 people have been injured and airlifted to the capital of Nassau by the US coast guard, authorities in the Bahamas said on Monday.

“We are in the midst of a historic tragedy,” Hubert Minnis, the country’s prime minister said.

“The devastation is unprecedented and extensive.”

Additional reporting by agencies