How will Hurricane Dorian impact the Bahamas? It could be a ‘looming catastrophe’
.JPG "A child evacuated from a nearby Cay due to the danger of floods drags his suitcase when he arrives on a ship at the port before the arrival of Hurricane Dorian in Sweeting’s Cay, Grand Bahama, Bahamas, Saturday Aug. 31, 2019. (AP Photo / Ramon Espinosa)")
Hurricane Dorian’s track continued to churn northward and eastward on Saturday, putting much of Florida at relative ease. But the news was only getting worse for the northern Bahamas.
Because not only is the Category 4 storm getting stronger, it is also slowing down. It could possibly linger over the parts of the island chain for several days.
In its 2 p.m. update, the National Hurricane Center warned that a “severe Hurricane Dorian continues heading for the northwestern Bahamas with life-threatening storm surge and devastating winds.”
“A hurricane warning is in effect for these areas, and residents should listen to advice given by local emergency officials and have their hurricane preparations completed today,” the hurricane center warned.
As of that time, the storm was about 200 miles east of Great Abaco and 385 miles east of West Palm Beach, according to the National Hurricane Center, which said the storm had maximum sustained winds of 150 miles per hour and was moving west at 8 miles per hour.
The National Hurricane Center was predicting storm surge of as much as 10 to 15 feet above normal tide levels in areas of onshore winds in Great Abaco and Grand Bahamas.
“Near the shore, the surge will be accompanied by large and destructive waves,” the hurricane center said in its 2 p.m. update.
And the storm could still escalate to a Category 5 before making landfall, warned meteorologist Eric Holthaus on Twitter.
“This is a looming catastrophe for the northern Bahamas,” he tweeted.
By 2:30 p.m., most guests had already fled the Treasure Cay Beach, Marina and Golf Resort on Great Abaco, said Avis Miller, the manager there.
Miller said the resort is feeling some economic pain from the storm. There was a 100-person wedding planned for the weekend, but the couple opted instead for a quick wedding on Thursday evening followed by a pizza party that night, then most of the guests left Friday and Saturday.
A veteran of several hurricanes, such as Floyd and Jeanne, Miller said she was not particularly worried because the resort is inland enough that it should be protected from storm surge, the dynamic that worried her the most about the storm.
“It’s hot, but very calm,” Miller told the Miami Herald. “We’ve all been through this before, most of us, and we are well prepared for it. Everyone is stocked up on food and water.”
Miller said there were one or two guests remaining at the resort who refused to leave, so the hotel made them sign waivers.
“One guest had tickets to Florida and said, ‘If I go to Florida, it’s going to be there,’” Miller said. “I said, ‘If you stay, stay at your own risk,’ but we protect them the best we can.”
Milller’s one concern was how the storm surge would interact with seasonal “king tides.” At midday on Saturday, Bahamas Press, an online news outlet, was already tweeting video footage of flooding caused by the tides at the harbor of Bay Street, with Hurricane Dorian still 500 miles away at that point.
Hurricane chaser Josh Mogerman late Saturday morning tweeted that he had secured a ticket on the last flight into the Abaco Islands before it shuts down.
“Taking off,” Mogerman tweeted. “Folks on the flight— mostly residents trying to get home to Great Abaco #Bahamas— seem spooked. Flight to doom.”
This story was originally published August 31, 2019 at 1:45 PM.