Videos Show Cat. 5 Hurricane Dorian’s Devastation in Bahamas

Meteorologist says 'Abaco is going to get wiped'

Palm trees blow in the wind during the arrival of Hurricane Dorian in Marsh Harbour, the Great Abaco Island, Bahamas, on Sept. 1, 2019. (Dante Carrer/Reuters)

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..”

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.

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.

The footage then showed what appeared to be significant structural damage to the home.

Someone is also heard speaking in the background.

Other footage shows storm surge inundating cars and buildings.

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.

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.