Though reports from the Bahamas are slow to come in as the catastrophic, historic Category 5 Hurricane Dorian hovers over some of the islands, videos obtained by the Consortium show widespread damage in the Abaco Islands—a group of islands and barrier cays in the northeast of the Bahamas archipelago which sit less than 200 miles from the Florida coast.
The slow-moving storm is the second-strongest Atlantic hurricane on record, and packed at one point winds of up to 185mph (280km/h). It may have caused a storm surge of up to 23ft (7m).
There is no official word on casualties but the Red Cross fears some 13,000 homes have been severely damaged, according to the BBC.
According to the National Hurricane Center’s 5:00 a.m. advisory, the center of Hurricane Dorian was located by NOAA Doppler radar near latitude 26.6 North, longitude 78.2 West. Dorian is moving toward the west near 1 mph (2 km/h). A slow westward to west-northwestward motion is forecast during the next day or so, followed by a gradual turn toward the northwest and north. On this track, the core of extremely dangerous Hurricane Dorian will continue to pound Grand Bahama Island through much of today and tonight. The hurricane will move dangerously close to the Florida east coast tonight through Wednesday evening.
Maximum sustained winds are near 165 mph (270 km/h) with higher gusts. Dorian is a category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Although gradual weakening is forecast, Dorian is expected to remain a powerful hurricane during the next couple of days.
Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 45 miles (75 km) from the center, and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 140 miles (220 km). The estimated minimum central pressure is 916 mb (27.05 inches).
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