Hurricane Dorian struck the Bahamas on Sunday with torrential rains and winds of up to 300 km / h, a level unparalleled in the history of this Caribbean archipelago. Category 5 hurricane, described as "catastrophic" by the US National Hurricane Center (NHC), landed at Elbow Cay on the Abacos Islands in northwestern Bahamas.
"We are facing a hurricane (...) as we have never seen in the history of the Bahamas," said Hubert Minnis, Prime Minister of this archipelago of some 700 islets between Florida, Cuba and Haiti . "It's probably the saddest day of my life," he added, in tears. Videos posted on the website of the Bahamas' Tribune 242 newspaper showed gigantic waves reaching the roofs of wooden houses, capsized boats floating in muddy water amidst tree branches, planks and other debris.
"Now it looks like it's going to go back to South Carolina and North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama will also be affected."
Other videos posted on social networks showed cars turned upside down, telephone poles and wind-blown trees and homes badly damaged. AFP could not immediately confirm the authenticity of these images. According to the Miami-based NHC, Dorian equaled the 1935 record of the most powerful hurricane in the Atlantic when he landed, fearing scenes of devastation. "People are still traumatized by Matthew (in 2016) but it's even worse," Yasmin Rigby, who lives in Freeport, Grand Bahama, told AFP. Since the White House, US President Donald Trump has called for the utmost vigilance against this climate phenomenon "very very powerful". "Pray for the people of the Bahamas," he tweeted shortly thereafter.
After the Bahamas, the hurricane is expected to approach the east coast of Florida (southeastern United States) Monday night and Tuesday, but it is difficult to predict how strongly it will hit the "Sunshine State".
"A lot of movement, very difficult to predict," summed up Donald Trump Saturday in a tweet. "Initially, he had to hit Florida directly," he said Sunday morning when he arrived at the White House back from Camp David. "It now looks like he's going to go back to South Carolina and North Carolina, and Georgia and Alabama will also be affected."