‘Devastated’ Michael Jordan donates $1 million to Hurricane Dorian relief in Bahamas

Michael Jordan has pledged to give $1million of his fortune to help with relief efforts for those affected by Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas.

The basketball legend announced Tuesday that he would be seeking out non-profit organizations where the money would be best put to use as it was revealed 3,000 could have lost their lives in the deadly storm that has wreak havoc on the Caribbean islands as well as in the US and Canada.

Jordan, 56, said in a statement Tuesday on Twitter through his spokeswoman Estee Portnoy that he’s ‘devastated’ at the destruction in the Bahamas, adding ‘my heart goes out to everyone who is suffering and to those who have lost loved ones.’

The Hornets owner and six-time NBA champion added that he owns property in the Bahamas and frequently visits the country where his Ocean Club Estates home lies at the tip of Paradise Island.

Michael Jordan pledged to donate $1million to Hurricane Dorian relief in the Bahamas Tuesday

Jordan stated: 'I am devastated to see the destruction that Hurricane Dorian has brought to the Bahamas, where I own property and visit frequently'

Jordan stated: ‘I am devastated to see the destruction that Hurricane Dorian has brought to the Bahamas, where I own property and visit frequently’

Homes lay in ruins one week after Hurricane Dorian hit The Mudd neighborhood, in the Marsh Harbor area of Abaco, Bahamas, Monday. Dorian, the most powerful hurricane in the northwestern Bahamas' recorded history, has killed at least 50 people

Homes lay in ruins one week after Hurricane Dorian hit The Mudd neighborhood, in the Marsh Harbor area of Abaco, Bahamas, Monday. Dorian, the most powerful hurricane in the northwestern Bahamas’ recorded history, has killed at least 50 people 

He called the Bahamian people ‘strong and resilient’ as his statement continued.

Jordan went on: ‘I hope that my donation will be of help as they work to recover from this catastrophic storm.’

It’s not the first time Jordan – worth $1.9billion – has reached into his pockets in the name of charity for a hurricane relief effort.

The North Caroline resident donated $2million to organizations helping the recovery after Hurricane Florence, which devastated the Carolinas.

He joins the likes of filmmaker Tyler Perry, rapper Ludacris, as well as Buddy Hield and Luke Walden who have all donated.

Perry’s personal sea plane flew supplies to Abaco where the Category 5 storm hit hard, bringing back seven people – including children and a pregnant woman who needed medical attention. 

Emergency management agency says 2,043 people are displaced in shelters on New Providence and mortuaries have temporarily refrigerated bodies. A Florida based Search and Rescue team navigate debris after recovering a body in Marsh Harbour, Bahamas, on Tuesday

Emergency management agency says 2,043 people are displaced in shelters on New Providence and mortuaries have temporarily refrigerated bodies. A Florida based Search and Rescue team navigate debris after recovering a body in Marsh Harbour, Bahamas, on Tuesday

At least 50 people lost their lives in the Bahamas as a result of Dorian but around 70,000 are still unaccounted for, according to Mercy Corps.

The spokesman for the Bahamas’ emergency management agency says that 2,043 people displaced by Hurricane Dorian are in shelters on the country’s most populous island, New Providence.

Spokesman Carl Smith told a news conference Tuesday that more shelters will be opened as needed, and the director of a nonprofit on Eleuthera island said unmet needs are growing.

Sadye Francis said, ‘There are still others that have nowhere to go.’ She adds that, ‘The true depth of the devastation in Abaco and Grand Bahama (islands) is still unfolding.’

The hurricane obliterated or gravely damaged buildings across those two northern Bahamian islands.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says the state is sending the Bahamas enough bottled water to fill 10 tractor-trailer rigs the islands recover from Hurricane Dorian. 

Bahamas' emergency management agency says that 2,043 people displaced by Hurricane Dorian are in shelters on the country's most populous island, New Providence. Pictured, a woman rests at the Full Gospel Church in Sand Banks Monday. Haitians that decided to stay in hurricane-devastated Great Abaco island struggle to survive with the little help they receive

Bahamas’ emergency management agency says that 2,043 people displaced by Hurricane Dorian are in shelters on the country’s most populous island, New Providence. Pictured, a woman rests at the Full Gospel Church in Sand Banks Monday. Haitians that decided to stay in hurricane-devastated Great Abaco island struggle to survive with the little help they receive

Personnel from British Royal Navy Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) ship Mounts Bay, delivering aid to the community of Fox Town on the island of Little Abaco on Saturday

The massive storm surge in the Bahamas killed about 220 dogs and 50 cats in an animal shelter during Hurricane Dorian. Felicia Telfort, the shelter supervisor at the Humane Society of Grand Bahama, says she and five co-workers did everything possible to save the animals

Personnel from British Royal Navy Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) ship Mounts Bay, delivering aid to the community of Fox Town on the island of Little Abaco on Saturday (left). The storm killed about 220 dogs and 50 cats in an animal shelter (right). Humane Society of Grand Bahama shelter supervisor says she and five co-workers did everything possible to save the animals 

DeSantis held a press conference Tuesday to make the announcement. He said Florida Power & Light is also contributing nine truckloads of water to the effort, and that overall, the state is helping coordinate $11million worth of cash, supplies and services pledged to help the Bahamas.

DeSantis said the water will come from the state’s stockpile for its own hurricane relief, but he said that Florida still should be able to meet its needs should a hurricane hit the state this season.

Caribbean emergency officials say mortuary facilities on the Bahamian island of New Providence are ‘overwhelmed’ as workers store bodies of victims of Hurricane Dorian.

The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency says bodies are being placed in body bags and stored in refrigerated containers as ‘a temporary measure.’

The agency says ‘environmental health concerns’ in northern islands ravaged by the hurricane have increased and that there is a stench from dead animals and possibly human bodies.

Members of the Gainesville, Florida, fire department found five bodies Monday in the destroyed neighborhood known as The Mudd, the Bahamas’ largest Haitian immigrant community.

Dorian is blamed for at least seven other deaths in the Southeast US and Puerto Rico.

Thousands of hurricane survivors are filing off boats and planes in the capital of the Bahamas, facing the need to start new lives after Hurricane Dorian but with little ideas on how or where to begin.

Some sit in hotel lobbies as they debate their next steps. Others have been bused to shelters jammed to capacity. Some got rides from friends or family who offered a temporary place to stay on New Providence, which holds the capital, Nassau.

The government has estimated that up to 10,000 people from the Abaco islands alone will need food, water and temporary housing as officials consider setting up tent or container cities while they clear the country’s ravaged northern region of debris so people can eventually return.

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