Neighbors in Freeport were seen helping one another after Hurricane Dorian pounded away at the Bahamas on Tuesday in a watery onslaught that devastated thousands of homes, trapped people in attics and chased others from one shelter to another.
Residents were seen using jet skies and boats to help people stranded by flooding and heavy rain.
At least five deaths were reported.
The United Nations and the International Red Cross began mobilizing to deal with the unfolding humanitarian crisis.
Bahamian Prime Minister Hubert Minnis called it "a historic tragedy".
The storm's relentless winds and rain battered the islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama, which have a combined population of about 70,000.
The Grand Bahama airport was under six feet (two meters) of water.
Desperate callers trying to find loved ones left messages with local radio stations as Bahamian Health Minister Duane Sands said that Dorian devastated the health infrastructure in Grand Bahama island and that severe flooding rendered the main hospital unusable.
He said he hoped to send an advanced medical soon to the Abaco islands.
A Red Cross spokesman said more than 13,000 houses, or about 45 percent of the homes in Grand Bahama and Abaco, were believed to have been severely damaged or destroyed.
UN officials said more than 60,000 people on the hard-hit islands will need food, and the Red Cross said some 62,000 will need clean drinking water.
(Source: AP)