Hurricane Dorian hovers Over Bahamas, makes slow approach to US
Torrential downpours and massive flooding tore across the northwest Bahamas, with officials reporting a “tremendous” number of calls for help from the wrath of Hurricane Dorian.
A radio station reported more than 2,000 messages for help, including a report that a five-month-old baby was stranded on a roof. Reports of a grandmother cutting a hole in her roof to escape the floods with her six grandchildren also surfaced in the chaos. At least five people have died in the Bahamas, including a 7-year-old child, Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said.
The full extent of the damage is still unknown as of late Monday, as the storm spent most of the Labor Day churning over the islands.
The Bahamas have never recorded landfall of a category 5 hurricane until Dorian reached its shores. It has sat on top of the northwest islands, traveling at 1 mph – faster than most people walk.
Though forecasters downgraded the storm to a category 4 by Monday afternoon, the danger is far from over. Winds clocked in at 145 mph.
The National Hurricane Center extended its watches and warnings stretching from Florida to the Georgia coastline.
The storm is expected to barrel up the U.S. as people were to head back to work Tuesday. Mandatory evacuations now span coastlines from Florida to South Carolina.
Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.