Some Bay area residents with ties to the Bahamas are hoping to help with relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Joaquin.

The storm battered some of the Bahamian islands with 130 miles-per-hour winds last week. It left behind many destroyed homes and businesses and flooding.

"There's no electricity. There's no food. There's not even grocery stores,” said Lakeland resident Paul Butler, a native of the Bahamas.

Butler has been keeping in touch with friends and family back home including his brother Antoine.

"The roofs got blown off. They have no place to live,” said Antoine of the damage on Long Island where the Butler’s have family ties.

The brothers have been talking about ways they can help with relief efforts.

Their cousin Loretta Turner is a member of the Bahamian Parliament. She has been helping to coordinate relief efforts. She has been flying to some of the more remote islands.

"It has been an amazing and overwhelming support,” said Turner about the relief coming in from the United States.

She said getting aid to people has been made more difficult by damage to airports and recovery will take time.

"This is going to be going on for at least the medium to long term and we'd like people to remain engaged to help us rebuild,” she said.