US evacuations after Dorian hits Bahamas
HURRICANE Dorian struck the northern Bahamas as a catastrophic Category 5 storm with record 185mph winds ripping off roofs, overturning cars and tearing down power lines.
The storm’s top sustained winds decreased slightly to 170mph as its westward movement slowed, crawling along Grand Bahama island early yesterday at 2mph in what forecasters said would be a day-long assault.
“It’s devastating,” said Joy Jibrilu, director general of the Bahamas’ Ministry of Tourism and Aviation. “There has been huge damage to property and infrastructure. Luckily, no loss of life reported.”
On Sunday, Dorian’s maximum sustained winds reached 185mph, with gusts of up to 220mph, tying the record for the most powerful Atlantic hurricane ever to come ashore. It equalled the Labour Day hurricane of 1935, before the storms were named.
As of early yesterday, the hurricane’s westward movement had slowed somewhat to 5mph.
Forecasters said Dorian was most likely to begin pulling away from the Bahamas early today and curve to the north-east parallel to the US Southeast seaboard.
Still, the potent storm was expected to stay close to shore and hammer the coast with dangerous winds and heavy surf, while authorities cautioned that it could still make landfall.
South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster ordered a mandatory evacuation of the entire coast of the state amid Dorian’s threat. The order, which covers about 830,000 people, was due to go into effect at noon local time yesterday. Georgia’s governor Brian Kemp also ordered an evacuation of the state’s Atlantic coast, also starting at noon yesterday. Authorities in Florida ordered evacuations in some vulnerable coastal areas.
More than 600 Labour Day flights in the US had been cancelled as of Sunday afternoon, many of them in Florida as Dorian barrelled towards the state’s coast.