Ludacris donates $100K to relief fund in Bahamas after island nation devastated by Hurricane Dorian
ATLANTA - Rapper and actor Ludacris will donate more than $100,000 to a relief fund benefiting the people devastated by Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas.
RELATED: Royal Caribbean sends ship full of water, food and generators to the Bahamas
Ludacris, whose real name is Christopher Bridges, made the announcement on his Instagram page on Tuesday.
“Over 100K raised over the weekend!! Thank you to all who showed up and showed out!! Now watch me work,” he said in the post.
The money comes from his LudaDay Weekend, an annual Labor Day event he hosts in his hometown of Atlanta. Ludacris has done LudaDay since 2005, according to the event’s website.
In 2011, LudaDay was officially recognized as a citywide event by Mayor Kasim Reed.
Each event is dedicated to “social service and responsibility,” according to the site. Money raised from the weekend goes toward The Ludacris Foundation and other charities benefiting children, but this year Ludacris chose to give it to the people in the Bahamas.
RELATED: Florida man buys more than 100 generators to send to Bahamas
On Sunday, Hurricane Dorian struck the island nation as a historic Category 5 storm. It remained over the region for almost two days, completely destroying thousands of homes and structures.
At least 20 people died in the storm, but officials expect the death toll to climb as they search through the debris and muddy mess left in the wake of Dorian.
As soon as Dorian cleared from the area, companies such as Disney and Royal Caribbean stepped in to help and donated much-needed funds for the victims.
In Grand Bahama, a Royal Caribbean cruise ship dropped off 10,000 meals, 10,000 water bottles and more than 180 generators as well as diapers and flashlights.
Total property losses, not including infrastructure and vehicles, could reach $7 billion, according to an estimate from the firm Karen Clark & Co.
RELATED: Video shows tornadoes hitting Carolinas as re-energized Hurricane Dorian moves up coast
Dorian weakened to a Category 2 storm as it left the Bahamas, but on Wednesday night it strengthened back to a Category 3 as it loomed over the eastern U.S. seaboard.
Millions of people in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas were ordered to evacuate as Dorian would bring damaging winds and life-threatening storm surge along a large portion of the southeast and mid-Atlantic coast for several days.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. This story was reported from Los Angeles.