The U.S. Coast Guard has launched a search for a U.S.-flagged containership with 33 crewmembers aboard reported to be caught in Hurricane Joaquin, near Crooked Island, Bahamas.
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The U.S. Coast Guard said El Faro left Jacksonville Tuesday before the storm was upgraded to Hurricane Joaquin.
Parts of the Bahamas were still being battered on Friday night, cutting communication to several islands, majority lightly populated.
The USCG says 33 people are aboard the El Faro, a 735-foot cargo ship that was headed for San Juan from Jacksonville.
The National Hurricane Center predicted Friday that Joaquin will move to the north, likely avoiding a direct hit of the U.S. East Coast. “It’s too risky to go outside because the flood waters are so high, so we ask that persons stay inside and try to go into the most secure place of their home”. “To not know what’s going on has got to be really hard for them”.
“There are a number of possible reasons for the loss of communications among them the increasing severity of Hurricane Joaquin”, Tim Nolan, president of Tote Maritime Puerto Rico, said in a statement today.
“Joaquin is going to generate a lot of wave energy”, Knabb said, adding that Bermuda might issue a tropical storm or hurricane watch, depending on Joaquin’s path. We are working to ensure clear and frequent communications with their families and loved ones as we learn more.
In the Bahamas, Hurricane Joaquin ripped off roofs, uprooted trees, knocked out power, and unleashed heavy flooding as the Category 4 storm dumped torrential rains across the eastern and central Bahamas on Friday. “We have reached out to the families of those impacted and have established open lines of communication to provide them with timely updates”, TOTE Maritime states.
It was supposed to arrive in Puerto Rico Friday.
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Meanwhile, the Coast Guard has released video of a different Joaquin-related rescue — of 12 mariners who abandoned their sinking cargo ship and crowded into a life raft northwest of Haiti yesterday. Our thoughts and prayers are with the individuals and their families.
