“I Survived Dorian”: Humanizing losses in the Bahamas

This case study belongs to a compendium of good practices and success stories in disaster risk reduction shared during the 2025 Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GP2025). These stories reflect the real-world progress being made by governments, communities, and organizations around the world to reduce risk and build resilience.

The “I Survived Dorian” project by the Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Research Centre (CCARR) provided an avenue for personal story-telling for residents of The Bahamas who survived the devastating 2019 Hurricane Dorian. While national assessments after the storm focused largely on economic losses and infrastructure damage, this project focused on the human experiences—particularly how vulnerable groups had been affected. 

Through multimedia storytelling, the project captured the emotional, psychological, and social impacts of the Category 5 hurricane. These stories revealed critical insights into gaps in risk perception, trust, and message delivery—showing that while technical early warnings were issued, they failed to resonate with several community members. Survivors’ accounts underscored the need for disaster communication that is culturally grounded and emotionally resonant.

One of the key lessons learned is that in the Bahamas, inclusive communication approaches necessitate working with personal storytelling, spoken word, music, and captivating social media content instead of technically worded warnings. This project allowed policymakers and practitioners access to rich qualitative data on community perceptions and needs. The digital platform isurviveddorian.org now serves as a public archive, ensuring that these voices continue to inform resilience policies and programmes.

Source: Shared at Thematic Session 1-4 by Speaker Ms Barrise Griffin, the Bahamas