Hurricane Dorian has brought a ‘historic tragedy’ to the Bahamas after stalling over the islands for 40 hours and pounding them with ferocious winds and surging seawaters that destroyed thousands of homes and left at least five people dead.
The Category 5 storm flooded the islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama with walls of water that lapped into the second floors of buildings, trapped people in attics and drowned the Grand Bahama airport under six feet of water.
Fearsome 120mph winds were still battering Grand Bahama early this morning as Dorian refused to budge, coming to an ‘unprecedented’ stop just north of the island.
People were forced to flee the floodwaters from one shelter to another amid reports of a five-month-old baby stranded on a roof and a woman with six grandchildren who cut a hole to escape.
At least five people died and 21 injured people were airlifted to the capital by the U.S. Coast Guard, Bahamas officials said.
‘We are in the midst of a historic tragedy,’ Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said. ‘The devastation is unprecedented and extensive.’
Meanwhile evacuations are under way in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina where heavy rain and even possible tornadoes are predicted today.
The storm has weakened but is still a powerful Category 3 hurricane, and could cause highly dangerous storm surges on the U.S. coast even if it does not make landfall.
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See Also:
(1) Rihanna leads celebrities promising to help the Bahamas after devastating Hurricane Dorian
(2) Virginia becomes FIFTH state to declare emergency as Hurricane Dorian approaches East Coast
