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Canadian couples trapped in Bahamas during Hurricane Dorian are safe: daughter

70-year-olds Sharyn Laughlin and Denis Dudley are expected to be evacuated via helicopter later today
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Sharyn Laughlin and Denis Dudley, an Ottawa couple who were trapped in the Bahamas as Hurricane Dorian struck, are shown in a handout photo. A Montreal-area woman says her parents and their friends are safe after riding out Hurricane Dorian in the attic of a home in the Bahamas. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Kristin Dudley MANDATORY CREDIT

A Montreal-area woman says her parents and their friends are safe after riding out Hurricane Dorian in the attic of a home in the Bahamas.

Kristin Dudley said in a brief phone conversation that she was able to speak to her father via satellite phone earlier today and he confirmed all four Ottawa residents are alive and well.

She said her 70-year-old parents Sharyn Laughlin and Denis Dudley, as well as their friends, are expected to be evacuated via helicopter later today.

Dudley hadn’t heard from her parents since Sunday, as they and their two friends were taking refuge in the attic of a house on Great Abaco Island in the northern Bahamas during the massive Category 5 storm.

She said the water had already burst through the main floor of the home, and she worried for their safety.

The storm caused widespread devastation across the northern Bahamas, as sustained winds of 295 kilometres per hour ripped off roofs, bowled over cars and sent floodwaters rushing into people’s homes.

Dudley said Wednesday she needed to leave her phone line open but took to social media to thank the public for their prayers and messages of support.

“It means the world to us,” she wrote on Facebook.

VIDEO: Hurricane Dorian headed to the Maritimes, Quebec

— With a file from The Associated Press

The Canadian Press


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