TROPICAL Storm Humberto lashed the Bahamas with rain and wind yesterday, possibly slowing down relief efforts in the wake of the devastation wrought less than two weeks ago by hurricane Dorian.

The US National Hurricane Centre said the centre of the storm, packing maximum sustained winds of 80kph, passed last evening about 110km from Great Abaco Island, one of the areas hardest hit by Dorian.

Humberto was moving away from the Bahamas on a path taking it well off the east coast of Florida this weekend and early next week, the NHC said. It’s expected to strengthen into a hurricane late today but is not expected to impact the Bahamas or the US by that point.

About 5cm to 10cm of rain were expected in most areas, with isolated flooding in low-lying areas, the Bahamian National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) cautioned. 

“Significant storm surge is not expected in the northwestern Bahamas from this system,” the Miami-based NHC said – good news for residents of Abaco and Grand Bahama still trying to get back on track after Dorian swept through early this month.

“I know this is not something people in Abaco and Grand Bahama would like to hear at this time, but it’s out there and the storm will bring heavy downpours over the Bahama islands,” Shavon Bonimy, senior meteorologist in Grand Bahama, told The Nassau Guardian.

“So we have to be prepared.”

NEMA spokesman Carl Smith told reporters on Friday that the storm would likely “slow down logistics” of relief efforts, but added: “We have contingency plans in place.”

“Fuel and water remain the biggest needs in Abaco,” Smith said.

So far, the death toll from monster storm Dorian is at 52, but officials say that number is likely to go up. About 1,300 people are still unaccounted for, but Smith said officials are working to cross-reference new data and locate the missing.

Former Bahamian prime minister Hubert Ingraham said earlier this week he feared the final death toll could be in the hundreds. – AFP, September 15, 2019.