3rd September 2019

Hurricane Dorian: Storm inches north west, leaving devastation in Bahamas

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By BBC

BBC - Hurricane Dorian is moving very slowly north west over the Bahamas, leaving devastation and flooding in its wake.

Satellite images showed large areas under water, including the Grand Bahama International airport and the town of Marsh Harbour on Abaco Island.

Dorian fell in strength on Tuesday to category two, but the northwest islands continue to endure heavy rain, high winds and storm surges.

Five people were killed when the storm hit the Abaco Islands.

Residents of the northern Bahamas, some trapped on roofs, sent out pleas for help as the storm thrashed the islands on Monday night, stalling at category five with 185mph winds.

The eastern US coast remains on alert for the hurricane.

Queen Elizabeth said she and Prince Phillip were "shocked and saddened to learn of the devastation caused by Hurricane Dorian" and she sent condolences to families and friends of the victims.

As a member of the Commonwealth, the Bahamas holds the Queen as its head of state.

"At this very difficult time, my thoughts and prayers are with those who have seen their homes and property destroyed and I also send my gratitude to the emergency services and volunteers who are supporting the rescue and recovery effort," she said in a statement to the country's governor-general, Sir Cornelius Smith.

The most recent update from the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) placed Dorian just north of Grand Bahama, home to about 50,000 people, having moved barely 20km (12 miles) in a day.

Eyewitness videos and reports painted a picture of massive and widespread flooding, with panicked families fleeing to their roofs to escape rising floodwaters.

The Bahamas Press showed video of the Rand Memorial Hospital in Freeport under water, with patients forced to evacuate. The news site also relayed calls for help from residents trapped on roofs for hours.

Freeport resident Yasmin Rigby told the Reuters agency: "People who thought they were safe are now calling for help".

A map from the Finnish satellite company ICEYE showed the extent of the flooding on the island:

Grand Bahama's international airport was under 6ft of water, while residents posting on Twitter said a church in Freeport had lost its roof and scores of people were in danger.

Another Twitter posting called for the rescue of an aunt and nine others from rising waters in the town.

Video posted on Twitter from Pine Bay showed the extent of the storm there.

Journalist Kyle Walkine tweeted that he was in a three-storey building "believed to be one of the strongest in Freeport, and it is shaking. But Dorian doesn't want to move".

Clint Watson, a journalist based in the capital Nassau, said people in Grand Bahama were being hit with "buckets of rain" and posting videos online showing water rising to the windows of their attics.

"You can't fathom that but that's what people are showing us with their videos," he told the BBC. "And you can see the water outside pressing in. It's stories like that and images like that that you can't get out of your mind."

One radio station told the Associated Press news agency it had received more than 2,000 distress messages.

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