Vice consul loses contact with brother in Bahamas following Hurricane Dorian

ATLANTA — Many families across metro Atlanta are hoping to hear from loved ones in the Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian devastated the islands.

One of those people is Charlene Johnson, vice consul of the Bahamas Consulate General’s Office.

She told Channel 2's Audrey Washington that she hasn't heard from her brother and nephew since Sunday and doesn't know if they are in a shelter somewhere or worse.

[LIVE UPDATES: Dorian strikes Georgia coast; flooding, power outages possible]

“The devastation, what we’ve seen thus far, is not anything we could’ve fathomed. It’s like a punch to the gut,” Johnson said.

She calls her brother every day but gets the same voicemail message each time.

Johnson said during her last conversation with her brother, he described the destruction Hurricane Dorian’s powerful winds and heavy rain caused.

[READ: Gov. Kemp warns storm surge from Dorian could be life-threatening]

“The last thing my brother said was that his roof was about to give and that his house was starting to flood,” Johnson said.

Dorian was a Category 5 hurricane when ripped through the Bahamas. More than half a dozen people have been reported died so far, including a young child.

Johnson told Washington that she can’t bear to look at images of the devastation.

[READ: Airbnb offers free housing for Hurricane Dorian evacuees, relief workers]

“I actually had to stop looking at them because it then lends to your fear that the worst of the worst happened to them,” Johnson said.

Right now, Johnson fields daily calls into the consulate office from local people searching for family members now missing in the Bahamas.

“Just because they’re missing does not mean they are deceased, so there’s still hope,” Johnson said.

READ: Hurricane Dorian: Georgia I-16 lanes reversed for evacuation routes on coast]

She also helps to organize the outpouring of storm relief donations for the people affected.

“(We need) saws and rakes because it’s going to be a massive cleanup effort, so we want to make sure they have the supplies they need,” Johnson said.

The United States Coast Guard says anyone looking for loved ones that may be in the Bahamas can send an email to ACSNassau@state.gov or call the National Emergency Management Agency in the Bahamas at 242-322-6731, 242-323-1373  or 242-323-1395.

Cox Media Group