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Hurricane Dorian was not Category 5, but 'Category Hell': UN chief

Reuters
Nassau BahamasUpdated: Sep 15, 2019, 08:41 AM IST
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File photo: A man walks among the debris of his house after Hurricane Dorian hit the Abaco Islands in Spring City, Bahamas. Photograph:(Reuters)

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He said the international community must rally to support countries like the Bahamas, which did not contribute to climate change 'but are the first line of the devastating impact'

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday said Dorian should be a wake-up call for the world about the dangers of climate change.

"I was horrified. I've never seen such a level of systematic devastation," Guterres told reporters visibly shaken on after taking an aerial tour of Abaco, which bore the brunt of Dorian's impact. "Hurricane Dorian has been classified as Category 5, I think it is Category Hell, but he was not powered by the devil. It was powered, and we have always had many hurricanes but now they are more intense and they are more frequent, and they are powered by climate change."

Guterres arrived in Nassau on Friday in a show of international support.

He said the international community must rally to support countries like the Bahamas, which did not contribute to climate change "but are the first line of the devastating impact."

Watch: New storm threatens Hurricane Dorian relief efforts