Hurricane Dorian struck the northern Bahamas today as a catastrophic Category 5 storm, its 298km/h winds ripping off roofs and tearing down power lines as hundreds hunkered in schools, churches and other shelters.
The second-strongest Atlantic hurricane since 1950, Dorian hit land in Elbow Cay in the Abaco Islands after authorities made last-minute pleas for those in low-lying areas to evacuate. But officials recognised there were not many structures on higher ground on the largely flat archipelago southeast of Florida.
Millions from Florida to the Carolinas kept a wary eye on the slow-moving Dorian amid indications it would veer sharply northeastward after passing the Bahamas and track up the US Southeast seaboard. But authorities warned that even if its core did not make US landfall and stayed offshore, the potent storm would likely hammer US coastal areas with powerful winds and heavy surf.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Dorian's maximum sustained winds at its 12.45pm Sunday (Miami time) landfall were 298km/h, up from 282 km/h. It was moving west at 11 km/h. "Catastrophic conditions" are occurring in The Abaco Islands and expected across Grand Bahama later in the day, the centre said.
Dorian's power was second only to Hurricane Allen in 1980, with its 306km/h winds.
"It's going to be really, really bad for the Bahamas," Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach said.
In the northern stretches of the Bahamas archipelago, hotels closed, residents boarded up homes and officials hired boats to move people to bigger islands as Dorian approached.
Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Minnis warned that any "who do not evacuate are placing themselves in extreme danger and can expect a catastrophic consequence."
Still, dozens of people ignored evacuation orders, officials said, and they were warned that they were placing their lives in danger.
"The end could be fatal," said Samuel Butler, assistant police commissioner. "We ask you, we beg you, we plead with you to get to a place of safety."
Bahamas radio station ZNS Bahamas reported that a mother and her child in central Grand Bahama called to say they were sheltering in a closet and seeking help from police.
Silbert Mills, owner of the Bahamas Christian Network, said trees and power lines were torn down in The Abaco Islands and some roads were impassable.
"The winds are howling like we've never, ever experienced before," said Mills, 59, who planned to ride out the hurricane with his family in the concrete home he built 41 years ago in central Abaco.
Among those refusing to leave were 32 people in Sweetings Cay, and a group that sought safety in Old Bahama Bay resort, which officials said was not safe.
Butler said officials were closing certain roads with heavy equipment and warned that those on the other side would be stranded until after Dorian has passed. The government has opened 14 shelters across the Bahamas.
"We cannot stress the amount of devastation and catastrophic impact that Hurricane Dorian is expected to bring," said Shavonne Moxey-Bonamy, the Bahamas chief meteorologist.
Earlier Saturday, small skiffs shuttled between outlying fishing communities and McLean's Town, a settlement of a few dozen homes at the eastern end of Grand Bahama island, about 240 kilometres from Florida's Atlantic coast. Most came from Sweetings Cay, a fishing town of a few hundred about 1.5 metres above sea level.
"We're not taking no chances," said Margaret Bassett, a ferry boat driver for the Deep Water Cay resort. "They said evacuate, you have to evacuate."
But Jack Pittard, a 76-year-old American who has been traveling to the Bahamas for 40 years, said he has decided to ride out the storm in The Abaco Islands. He said it's the first hurricane he will experience in his life.
"There's fear," he said by phone today as it approached. "I'm worried about destruction of property, but I don't believe there's going to be loss of lives here."
Pittard said he battened up his house and is spending the storm in a nearby duplex behind a group of cottages owned by a friend. He noted the ocean is quite deep near where he's staying, and there's a cay that provides protection, so he doesn't expect significant storm surge.
"I'm not afraid of dying here," said Pittard, who lives in Lexington, Kentucky.
Meanwhile, Klotzbach, the hurricane researcher, warned of Dorian's catastrophic strength: "Abaco is going to get wiped."
Over two or three days, the slow-moving hurricane could dump as much as one mtre of rain, unleash devastating winds and whip up a dangerous storm surge, said private meteorologist Ryan Maue, seconding some of the most reliable computer models.
Government spokesman Kevin Harris said Dorian was expected to affect 73,000 residents and 21,000 homes. Authorities closed airports for The Abaco Islands, Grand Bahama and Bimini, but Lynden Pindling International Airport in the capital of Nassau remained open.
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