Face of Nation : At least five people have died in the Abaco Islands in the wake of Hurricane Dorian, Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said Monday evening.
Hurricane Dorian weakened to a Category 3 hurricane from a Category 4 storm early Tuesday morning but continues to batter the Bahamas as it remains almost at a standstill.
Minnis said that there are also people in Great Bahama island in serious distress. Rescue crews will respond to calls for help as soon as weather conditions allow. “We are in the midst of a historic tragedy,” Minnis said.
Historic Hurricane Dorian stalled over the northern Bahamas on Monday, pounding the islands with heavy rains, storm surge and howling winds before the storm directs its rage toward the U.S. coast.
At 2 a.m. EDT Tuesday, the storm’s center was about 30 miles northeast of Freeport Grand Bahama Island. It has barely budged from that position since Monday afternoon. But its wind speeds lessened slightly to 120 mph with higher gusts. That was down from 130 mph Monday evening.
Some areas could see up to 2 feet of rain, and storm surge could reach 23 feet, forecasters warned. Heavy rains capable of creating life-threatening flash floods over the northern part of the Bahamas are expected through Friday.
Emergency responders were already overwhelmed. An estimated 13,000 homes have been destroyed, according to the Salvation Army, which has volunteers stationed in the group of islands.
Power and communications outages made damage assessment difficult. The few videos that have emerged from the Abaco Islands show destroyed homes, flooded roads and residents pleading for help and prayers.
Florida and the U.S. East Coast remain a target. The storm, which was 100 miles east of West Palm Beach, Florida early Tuesday morning, will move “dangerously close” to the Florida east coast late Tuesday through Wednesday night, the center said. Dorian is forecast to turn toward the northwest, roaring parallel to Florida about 30 to 40 miles offshore, before continuing north along the East Coast deep into the week.
Dangerous surge and hurricane winds are expected on parts of Florida’s east coast and the coastal South Carolina and Georgia, the center said Monday evening. The risk of life-threatening surge in North Carolina continues to increase. Heavy rains that could cause flooding are expected in the lower Mid-Atlantic and the coastal Southeast of the United States through Friday as well.
That gap remains right on the edge of delivering the worst of Dorian to the Florida coastline. Center Director Ken Graham stressed that the state’s east coast will be dealing with wind, rain and storm surge as high as 7 feet through Wednesday.
“No matter the track, no matter the characteristics of the storm, the water’s coming, so please just everyone listen to the local officials,” Graham said. “Remember water can rise a lot earlier before the storm gets there. This is life and death.”
Weather concerns brought havoc to air travel on the busy Labor Day holiday as airlines canceled more than 1,100 Monday flights within, into or out of the United States, according to flight tracker FlightAware.
President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency and was being briefed regularly about what he called a “monstrous” storm. “I spoke with President Trump. He’s fully engaged in this,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a news conference Monday. “He just reiterated that he’s going to provide any resources we need to weather Dorian.”DeSantis said all coastal counties have issued evacuation orders, and 72 nursing homes have been evacuated. More than 4,000 members of the state National Guard have been called up, and power companies are prepared to dispatch 17,000 personnel to combat outages.
