Hurricane Heaves ''Tsunami'' on Bahamas Island

Hurricane Heaves ''Tsunami'' on Bahamas Island
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Rubble remains where buildings once stood in the village of Eight Mile Rock on the island of Grand Bahama.

On October 24, 2005, Hurricane Wilma made landfall on the small island, located some 65 miles (105 kilometers) off the Florida coast.

Small, remote fishing villages like Eight Mile Rock on the island's West End sustained the heaviest damage.

Residents there say the storm was the most devastating hurricane the island has ever seen.

Witnesses describe storm surges 12 feet (3.7 meters) high, which swept away more than a hundred homes and killed at least one villager, a 15-month-old child who drowned in the sea swells.

Local media are calling the surge "the Bahamian tsunami."

 Read "Bahamas Rocked by 'Tsunami' From Hurricane Wilma"
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Photograph by Blake de Pastino
 

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