Deputy Prime Minister Cooper visits New Providence Community Church hurricane shelter

NASSAU, The Bahamas -- Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Investments and Aviation the Hon. Chester Cooper, along with Mrs. Cooper, and the Disaster Risk Management Authority visited the New Providence Community Church Hurricane Shelter, Blake Road, Wednesday afternoon, October 29, 2025.

Deputy Prime Minister Cooper said he was grateful for the ability of the persons from the Southern Bahamas residing there to evacuate the impact of Hurricane Melissa, and find safety in the capital. He was pleased that the evacuated persons seemed quite comfortable, and the shelter seemed well-managed.

A Hurricane Melissa Warning was in effect for the central and southeast Bahamas late Monday night, October 27, 2025. Under the warning were the islands of Exuma and its cays, Ragged Island, Rum Cay, Long Island, San Salvador, Cat Island, Acklins, Crooked Island, Long Cay, Mayaguana, and Inagua.

On Tuesday, evacuation exercises brought hundreds of residents from southernmost islands, who were then housed in shelters around New Providence.

Hurricane Melissa, the deadliest hurricane in the Atlantic this year, Category 5, on Monday evening sustained hurricane-force winds outward up to 30 miles from the center, while tropical-storm-force winds extended outward up to 195 miles. Melissa made devastating landfall in Jamaica and southeastern Cuba, Tuesday, as an extremely powerful major hurricane; and was still at hurricane strength as it moved across the Southeast Bahamas, Wednesday.

DPM Cooper said that he hoped for the best, for limited damage on the southern islands, and the safe return of the evacuated persons to their homes.

(BIS Photos/Kristaan Ingraham)