The Bahamas is exploring how artificial intelligence could help communities receive faster hurricane warnings, speed up disaster assessments and improve emergency assistance as the country looks to strengthen its technology-driven disaster preparedness.

The Ministry of Innovation and National Development has submitted an expression of interest in a United Nations initiative designed to use AI and emerging technologies to reduce disaster risks. The proposal builds on lessons from Hurricane Dorian, which caused extensive destruction in 2019.

Under the proposed initiative, AI tools could help improve forecasts and warnings for communities across the Family Islands, analyse storm damage more quickly and identify where relief supplies and repair efforts are most urgently needed.

Another potential application involves helping people access emergency assistance when identification documents are lost or destroyed during a disaster. Technology could also support the continuity of essential government services when severe weather disrupts normal operations.

The initiative remains under consideration, and The Bahamas is expected to begin technical discussions with the UN Office for Digital and Emerging Technologies and the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.

For an island nation exposed to hurricanes and other extreme weather events, the proposal could open new opportunities for AI-powered emergency planning, digital forecasting and faster disaster recovery. Officials have also emphasised that any data-sharing arrangements must comply with Bahamian law and remain under national control.

The goal is to use technology to help protect communities, improve emergency coordination and make disaster recovery more efficient across The Bahamas.