Damage control in the Bahamas, as death toll tops 40

in the Bahamas, damage control efforts were underway on Saturday six days after Hurricane Dorian made landfall. officials are also warning that death toll of 43 was likely to spike higher while the number of missing among the archipelago nation's 400,000 residents becomes clear.

DIRECTOR, NATIONAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, STEPHEN RUSSELL said "We don't wish for it to be evacuated completely. Our desire is to get as many people out of the Island at this time until we can sanitize the whole area from debris, and deceased carcasses of animals and other persons that may be in the community. And then we can get them back into a clear environment. That's our main concern. "

The U.S. Coast Guard and Navy were shipping in relief supplies and had already rescued some 290 people from isolated areas in the islands hard-hit by the storm. The U.S. Agency for International Development said it raised its allocation of aid to the Bahamas by $1 million, to $2.8 million in total and had moved enough emergency supplies for 44,000 people to the islands.