Update at 7:45 p.m.: Hurricane Dorian has killed at least five people in the Bahamas as one of the most powerful Atlantic storms on record caused extensive flooding across the islands. The death toll is likely to rise as power failures and flooded roads made it extremely difficult to assess the real damage. “We are in the midst of a historic tragedy,” Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said, calling the devastation “unprecedented and extensive.”
The Red Cross warned that as many as 13,000 houses may have been severely damaged or destroyed across the Bahamas and wells may have been contaminated with salt water. “It is clear that Hurricane Dorian has had a catastrophic impact,” an official said.
The slow-moving Dorian was downgraded from a Category 5 to an “extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane” and by Monday afternoon the storm’s top sustained winds dropped to 145 mph.
Some disturbing images are going around that suggest extensive damage across the Bahamas. John Morales, who is the chief meteorologist at WTVJ NBC-6 in Miami, posted some photos that show the extent of the devastation.
The National Hurricane Center says the coast of central Florida could start to see tropical storm force winds from Dorian on Tuesday morning.
Original post: The Bahamas was pounded by Hurricane Dorian Monday as the record-setting storm looks likely to have devastated the islands with sustained winds that reached 185 mph and gusts up to 220 mph The catastrophic Category 5 hurricane thus tied for the record of the most powerful Atlantic hurricane to ever make landfall, equal only to the Labor Day hurricane of 1935. The slow-moving hurricane had weakened slightly Monday with top sustained winds reaching 165 mph as it crawled along Grand Bahama island Monday but will continue to pound the island for the rest of the day. Grand Bahama should brace for a “prolonged period of catastrophic winds and storm surge” throughout the day, warned the National Hurricane Center. Dorian will cause “extreme destruction” on Grand Bahama, warned the center.
Information is scarce out of the Bahamas but blackouts appear to be extensive and a lot of homes were destroyed. Local press reported a 7-year-old boy had drowned and his sister was missing. “This will put us to a test that we’ve never confronted before,” Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said in a televised address. “This is probably the most sad and worst day of my life to address the Bahamian people. I just want to say as a physician I’ve been trained to withstand many things, but never anything like this.”
Forecasters expect Dorian to begin moving away from the Bahamas early Tuesday and moving toward the southeastern United States. “The hurricane will move dangerously close to the Florida east coast tonight through Wednesday evening,” the National Hurricane Center said Monday morning. For now, forecasts continue to show the storm will turn before hitting Florida, but things could change very quickly. “It is still possible for the hurricane to deviate from this forecast, and move very near or over the coast,” the National Hurricane Center wrote. “Users are reminded not to focus on the exact forecast track.”
In preparation for Dorian’s arrival, the governors of South Carolina and Georgia ordered more than one million people to evacuate along the coastline starting noon Monday. Georgia will likely start to feel tropical-storm-force winds early Wednesday, followed by South Caorlina later in the day, and North Carolina on Thursday. In South Carolina, some 830,000 people were ordered to evacuate as did around 200,000 people in Georgia. “We know we can’t make everybody happy, but we believe we can keep everyone alive,” South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, meanwhile, warned residents there could be lots of rain and floods later this week.