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Sept. 1, 2019
Hurricane Dorian strengthenedto a Category 5 storm on Sundayand aimed at its fury at the northern reaches of the Bahamas archipelago , leaving residents scrambling to find shelter as they braced for rising waters and torrential rains.
As dawn broke and first winds began to batter Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama Island, forecasters at the National Hurricane Center saidin a bulletinthat the storm’s maximum sustained winds had reached 160 miles an hour, calling it a “catastrophic” storm.
Dorian is the strongest hurricane on record to hit the northwestern Bahamas, the hurricane center said, with maximum sustained winds reaching 180 mph and gusts over 170 mph It warned that “extreme winds and storm surgeons will continue for several hours.”
Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said on Saturday that 73, 000 residents and
But the storm brings more dangers than most
“A prolonged period of life-threatening storm surge, devastating hurricane-force winds and heavy rains are capable of producing life-threatening flash floods,” the National Hurricane Center said.
The storm has grown larger, the center said, with winds extending upward to 45 miles from the center. Meteorologists also warned of a storm surge that would raisewater levels as much as 18 feet to 25 feet above normal and deliver more than two feet of rainfall in some areas
“We will pray and hope for the best but plan for the worst,” Michael Pintard, the Bahamian minister of agriculture, said in a text message on Saturday evening.
Residents hunkered down in schools, churches and others emergency shelters, but there was concern that some would try to brave the storm in their homes.
Frankie Fleuridor, an activist who working with the Haitian community in Marsh Harbor on Great Abaco was worried that not everyone would be able to leave. “Some people are saying that they are not going to go because they have now to go,” he said on Saturday
“It’s tough for people in the shantytowns,” he said. Their plywood houses are not built to withstand hurricane-force winds and are vulnerable to flooding. He said he had rented hotel rooms for the most vulnerable, but could not afford to do more. “Max maxed out,” he said.
Mr. Minnis, the prime minister, warned residents of the most vulnerable areas on Friday to move to higher ground, but The Nassau Guardian reported Saturday that some residents on Sweeting Cay, a fishing village on the eastern side of Grand Bahama Island, were stranded and
Mr. Pintard, the agriculture minister, crisscrossed Grand Bahama Island on Saturday in a last-minute effort to help residents. Many homes are still damaged by Hurricane Matthew, which hit the island two years ago. He brought a team of workers to nail plywood on roofs, windows and doors.
He said he was concerned that many of the damaged homes would face “tremendous downpours and hurricane-force winds,” and that there was a shortage of both labor and plywood to prepare.
Storm’s slow pace and low-lying islands’ vulnerability to flooding added to those concerns.
Thousands of people were at risk of losing their homes – which is their “life’s investment,” he said, adding that “catastrophic damage” would close businesses. and eliminate jobs, “which we are ill prepared for.”
Tourism is a mainstay of the Bahamas’ economy, but the region in the direct path of the storm is not the center of the industry. Many hotels in Grand Bahama and the Abaco Islands were closed for the low season.
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Among those open was Abaco Beach Resort in Marsh Harbor. Most tourists had left, but few were planning to break it out with news crews, insurance executives, business travelers and some locals who had booked rooms.
“It’s an emergency business, not a business as usual,” said Rick Lohr, the hotel’s general manager.
Mr. Lohr said the hotel had a generator and ample food and water supplies, but he was cautiously unetheless.
“It’s moving so slowly, you don ‘ I don’t know where it’s going to go, ”he added. “It can create a lot of damage.”
The Bahamas Metereology Department said it expected the Eye of the storm to pass over the Abaco Islands on Sunday afternoon and move over Grand Bahama overnight.
Troy Albury, a resident of Great Guana Cay, told the newspaper that about 150 people were still on the island. “Our house is solidly built,” he said. “It’s more than 15 feet above sea level. My house isn’t going anywhere. “
” We’ve been through four storms. ”
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