Shawdesh Desk:

The number of confirmed dead after Hurricane Dorian rose to 43 Friday, and the figure was expected to grow “significantly” as recovery efforts continued in the devastated Bahamas, the prime minister’s office said.

Some 70,000 people are in need of aid on Abaco and Grand Bahama islands, and thousands are desperately trying to find loved ones, with many gathering on social media and one main website in hopes of finding any news.

“Forty-three is the official count, many missing and this number is expected to grow significantly,” said Erica Wells Cox, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Hubert Minnis.

More than 6,660 people were listed on the website Dorian People Search Bahamas as of Friday morning, as thousands were seeking information about their missing loved ones following the hurricane, site founder Vanessa Pritchard-Ansell, told NBC News.

She said there were still many people desperate to hear from their loved ones with communication down and thousands of people displaced from their homes.