Stranded Ontarians rescued from Grand Bahama Island

Ontarians escape deadly hurricane zone At least two Ontario residents have escaped without injury after Hurricane Dorian battered the Bahamas.

A Torontonian stranded in Freeport, Bahamas in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian says is being rescued on Friday.

“When I woke up I heard there was going to be a ferry coming,” Christian Szurma said in a video call with CTV News Toronto. “I’ve been trying to look for ferries and just any way out since the hurricane stopped.”

Toronto resident Christian Szurma is seen in this photo while speaking with CTV News Toronto / (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Szurma has been staying in his vacation condo in Coral Beach since early August. After the hurricane, there has been no running water, and intermittent power from a generator. He says he is also running low on food supplies. “I only have maybe 2 and a half gallons of water left so it’s like perfect timing. I really do need to leave today.”

Szurma’s mother, back in Toronto, was able to book a ferry ticket online for him through the Balearia Caribbean website. The ferry is expected to take him to Fort Lauderdale, Florida tonight, where he will try to book the earliest flight back to Toronto.

Grant Goodbrand,17, from the Barrie area, was rescued off the island by a private plane yesterday.

“The whole idea was trying to get them off the island as quick as possible so they didn’t have to face what’s about to happen and that’s people starting to become desperate and having to see the reality of the aftermath,” Grant’s father, David Goodbrand, said.

Barrie area resident Grant Goodbrand is seen here on vacation in the Bahamas. (Grant Goodbrand)

Grant was visiting his girlfriend and her family, who had moved to the Bahamas. During Hurricane Dorian, they hid in a fortified house with a generator that was situated on higher ground.

His girlfriend’s father, who is a pilot, tried to make arrangements to get his family to safety by chartering a boat, but it was turned away by the U.S. Coast Guard. He later managed to arrange for a private plane to land on the island of Grand Bahama, despite the airport being completely decimated.

Grant Goodbrand is seen here with his girlfriend's family arriving in the Bahamas. 

“[Grant’s girlfriend’s father] persisted and found a plane that was able to get into the island and make a touchdown on a landing strip or open ground that wasn’t very damaged by the hurricane and he was able to get them off the island yesterday,” David Goodbrand said.

Grant and the family landed in West Palm Beach Thursday and flew to Tampa Bay Friday. Grant will return to Toronto Saturday night, where his parents will reunite with their son for the first time since the harrowing experience.

“He's going to get to come back home when many others have no homes left and there's going to be a lot more suffering ahead,” David Goodbrand said adding that he doesn’t believe his son understands the magnitude of what he’s gone through. “I think it's really going to hit home more once he’s back and he starts seeing the news reports, that he was in the middle of all this chaos.”