Bahamian woman rallies local community to help home island

MAITLAND, Fla. (FOX 35 ORLANDO) - As the Bahamas begin a long recovery, people in Central Florida are stepping in to help.

Carissa Davy organized a supply drive at Lake Forrest Preparatory School Saturday, saying it’s a cause close to her heart.

“I have family members that live in the Bahamas and have been directly affected,” she said.

She’s seen the damage left behind by Hurricane Dorian through photos and videos sent to her by family members.

“The worst part is that I’m here and I can’t help them. I’m not there, so I feel sort of helpless,” she said holding back tears.

She says Dorian gutted her sister’s home and ripped through the neighborhood she grew up in, leaving fields of rubble and debris.

“To me it’s uninhabitable. I don’t even know how they’re surviving there now,” she said.

People like Alec Pontes is also seeing photos of the devastation and stopping by to help. He dropped off $400 worth of water.

“To see people who have built their whole lives have everything just wiped out and have to start all over again, it just hurts,” he said.

Davy says she’s thankful she can rely on her community here to help her people in the Bahamas.

“I know we’re a little community, but it’s something, and something’s better than nothing,” she said.