Some victims of the storm may have been washed out to sea and will never be recovered, Bahamian Health Minister Dr. Duane Sands told ABC News Sunday.

Forty-four people have been confirmed dead in the Bahamas and thousands more are in desperate need of food, water and shelter following Hurricane Dorian.

Hurricane Dorian hit the Bahamas for over a day beginning Sunday as a Category 5 storm, causing catastrophic devastation to the islands. Some victims of the storm may have been washed out to sea and will never be recovered, Bahamian Health Minister Dr. Duane Sands told ABC News Sunday.

Many other bodies could be lying beneath the destroyed homes and rubble strewn on the islands.

Around 76,000 people are homeless in the Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama Island, the U.N. said Friday, according to ABC News. About 10,000 people in the Abaco Islands are also in desperate need of food, water and shelter as food distribution has been a “challenge” and some drinking water is now unsafe.

290 people have been rescued from the area as of Sunday according to the U.S. Coast Guard. Six helicopters are helping with search-and-rescue missions. Security forces from Jamaica, the U.K. and the U.S. are also helping with search-and-rescue missions, officials said, according to ABC News.

The final death toll is expected to be “staggering” as a result of the hurricane, Sands said.

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Image: Reuters.