Helicopter pilot discovers villagers stranded in debris in the Bahamas

An aerial view of view of damaged boats devastated at the Elbow Key Island on 7 September 2019 in Bahamas. The official death toll has risen to at least 43 and according to officials is likely to increase even more. Photo: Jose Jimenez / Getty Images

By Suzanne Ciechalski
15 September 2019

(NBC News) – A helicopter pilot volunteering in the Bahamas in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian was shocked to discover this week that an area full of debris from the storm was inhabited by up to 40 people.

Justin Johnson, who owns Timberview Helicopters in Destin, Florida, with his wife, Angela, was heading to Fox Town on Little Abaco Island. The couple was in the hurricane-ravaged Bahamas with MEDIC Corps, a volunteer group that serves people affected by natural disasters.

“Being there, you can’t process that that really just happened,” Angela Johnson said about the devastation left by the storm, which flattened whole towns and left at least 50 people dead.

While flying over Little Abaco, Vic Micolucci, a Jacksonville, Florida, news reporter who went along for the ride, pointed out a debris field and asked Justin Johnson whether anyone could be down there.

Angela Johnson said her husband and another volunteer shrugged off the idea, saying it was likely just a pile of rubbish.

But after thinking about it, Justin Johnson decided to stop in the area the next day while on a supply run to Fox Town.

“He had this intuition that he had to fly back over,” Angela Johnson said.

Angela Johnson (center) celebrates with people in Fox Town on Little Abaco Island, the Bahamas, who were stranded by Hurricane Dorian, 15 September 2019. Photo: Angela Johnson

When he landed at the site, people began crawling out of the debris all around him. He rushed back to his wife and began gathering supplies.

“Pack up everything,” he said. “That place [the reporter] found has 30 to 40 people living in it.”

They pulled together tents, water and food. With the help of MEDIC Corps, they were able to take a couple loads of supplies back to the stranded people. […]

Many were undocumented Haitian immigrants who “are afraid of being deported so it is sometimes difficult to provide evacuation to these communities and they aren’t the first to show themselves,” MEDIC Corps said.

Angela Johnson said the villagers were deeply appreciative of the supplies.

“They were dancing, hands raised up to the heavens,” she said. [more]

Helicopter pilot discovers villagers stranded in debris in the Bahamas