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Dozens of Sidney Poitier’s Family Members Missing in The Bahamas

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Well, we all watched in absolute horror as Hurricane Dorian demolished the Bahamian islands of Grand Bahama and Abaco last week.

As the island nation begins the daunting task of trying to locate thousands of people still missing in the aftermath of the storm, comes word that 23 family members of iconic actor Sidney Poitier are among the missing.

The 92-year old award-winning actor was born in Miami and raised in The Bahamas and  has over 500 extended family there.

The New York Times spoke with the actor’s nephew, Jeffrey Poitier who said Thursday that the missing family members include his own sister and her grown children in Freeport, Bahamas.

“We haven’t been able to find any of them, nor have we heard from any of them. We are still looking and hoping that they surface as soon as possible. It’s got us all worried.”

Dorian made landfall as a Category 5 over The Bahamas and lingered for well nearly 2 days before making its way to Florida.

The NYT reports, that the “Poitier family’s roots in the Bahamas go back generations.”  Read more here.

As of Sunday morning, Dorian (now a tropical storm) was located off shore of Canada, making its way out to sea, after wreaking having up the entire East Coast this week.

Also: To donate to legitimate Bahamian relief efforts click here.

Since the storm devastated Grand Bahama and Abaco Islands, the humanitarian response has been non-stop from corporations, celebrities and more.  Director/actor Tyler Perry made at least two trips to the Bahamas in his personal plane filled with supplies and came back to the U.S. with several people in need of medical care.

(Cover photo:  Sidney Poitier, left, with daughter Sydney Tamiia at the premiere of the film “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire at AFI Fest 2009 in Los Angeles, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2009. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)


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