Videos have emerged of the damage wrought by Hurricane Dorian’s 185-mph winds as it passes over the northwest Bahamas on Sept. 1.
UPDATE: The Hope Town Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department confirmed the Abacos Islands have suffered major damage during Dorian.
“Now is not a time to panic now is the time to plan how to get the recovery started. Hope Town Fire and Rescue will be heading up the efforts for recovery,” the department said in a statement. The NHC also tweeted that “we have seen videos in the Abacos of people venturing out in the eye of #Dorian. Everyone should take shelter immediately as winds will increase rapidly and unpredictably after the eye passes..”
More footage from the Abaco islands.
Unimaginable storm surge has essentially plunged the entire island under water. pic.twitter.com/LAO0jYr0Nv
— ???????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????? (@IntelCrab) September 1, 2019
One woman apparently posted a video from inside a home on Abacos and wrote, “Lord we NEED you.” The video also included the text, “I need your prayers were stuck (sic).”
Another purported video from Grand Abaco showed Dorian’s storm surge inundating the island.
This is the scene in Abaco island, Bahamas at the moment as the eye of #HurricaneDorian comes ashore right now. #Dorian2019 #Dorian report @rickymyers pic.twitter.com/STyGDjXIQv
— WEATHER/ METEO WORLD (@StormchaserUKEU) September 1, 2019
The U.S. National Hurricane Center issued an update that as of 2 p.m., the storm has winds of 185 mph.
The update said the “eye of catastrophic Dorian” is over the Abacos Islands and is “heading with all its fury toward Grand Bahama,” another island in the Bahamas, the agency said. In a 3 p.m. update, the agency called on people to stay inside their shelters in the Abacos Islands.
The storm is forecast to bring a surge of 20 feet.
Waves crash against the shores of Marsh Harbour while Hurricane Dorian threatens the northwestern Bahamas as a major Category 5 storm, bringing with it potential for life-threatening storm surge and flash flooding.
FULL FORECAST: https://t.co/gK8lImGQbJ pic.twitter.com/JG5vppVjDQ
— ABC News (@ABC) September 1, 2019
The footage then showed what appeared to be significant structural damage to the home.
Someone is also heard speaking in the background.
Abaco Bahamas ????????
Lord we NEED you. ???????????? pic.twitter.com/bfEwn6BrT0
— day (@LoveDeje) September 1, 2019
Other footage shows storm surge inundating cars and buildings.
More video out of Abaco it’s like a tornado went through the place pic.twitter.com/0EkdwPGkjp
— Latrae Rahming (@p0sitivechange) September 1, 2019
Some videos were apparently shot while the eye of Dorian was passing over, showing widespread damage to cars, houses, fences, roads, and more. That prompted the NHC’s aforementioned warning to locals to stay inside.
“It’s going to be really, really bad for the Bahamas,” Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach told the Guardian.
He said, “Abaco is going to get wiped.”
Bahamian Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said that parts of Marsh Harbor in Grand Abaco are “underwater,” reported The Washington Post.
Dorian is a storm “that we have never seen in the history of the Bahamas,” Minnis said, adding that he’s unsure of fatalities.
#HurricaneDorian is raking Marsh Harbour on Great Abaco Island in the #Bahamas. The storm surge and hurricane force winds are already taking their toll as it slows down and stalls.
???? Patrick Tully pic.twitter.com/2BWbgQPmba— Mike Seidel (@mikeseidel) September 1, 2019
He added: “I can only say to them that I hope this is not the last time they will hear my voice, and may God be with them.”
He continued: “I can say that in the Marsh Harbour area of Abaco, parts of it is already underwater and in some areas you cannot tell the difference as to the beginning of the street or where the ocean begins.”
“And they have not yet been hit by the brunt of the storm,” he explained.
From The Epoch Times
