PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Tyler, Felicia and Kai Survance feel helpless in South Florida knowing their father and seven other family members are trapped in Treasure Cay without power, running water or the ability to leave the island after Hurricane Dorian caused widespread destruction.
“I’ve never heard my dad cry in his life and he called today balling and said we needed help,” said Tyler Survance.
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The siblings grew up in Green Turtle Cay, a short ferry ride away from Treasure Cay. They now live in Florida, but visit their family several times a year in the Bahamas.
They were already planning to bring supplies over after the hurricane passed, but after recently going days without hearing from their family their recovery efforts quickly turned into a rescue mission.
“We’ve had plan after plan to get over there and they all seem to be falling through,” said Survance.
Despite having contacted the U.S. Coast Guard multiple times and posting to social media with their father’s last known coordinates they refuse to give up.
“Today we’ve heard from my dad and it just made things so much harder. What we heard from him is that they need help and to hear my dad with that much despair and agony, we don’t know what to do anymore,” said Felicia Survance.
The are starting to feel helpless because Bahamian authorities are asking anyone who wants to provide private aid to hold off, as they are limiting the air space for coast guard to complete rescue missions.
“I think we are used to hurricanes, and we are used to destruction, but this was something we couldn’t even imagine,” said Survance.
Like so many people here in South Florida with ties to the Abacos, they feel like time is running out to help family members running out of food and water.