Hurricane Dorian pounds Bahamas, US braces itself
A death of a minor boy has been reported as category 5 Hurricane Dorian pounded northern islands of Bahamas on Sunday. A woman had told Eyewitness News that her eight-year-old grandson had drowned and her granddaughter had gone missing in the Abaco Islands. No other injuries or fatalities have been reported so far.
This is the biggest storm to hit the islands in recent history. The storm has been described as ‘catastrophic’ and ‘life-threatening’ by the National Hurricane Center.
Meteorologists are unable to predict the exact path of the hurricane because of its wide “cone of uncertainty”. However, according to estimates it is going to next hit Florida state of America. Though the Bahamas is likely to suffer the biggest destruction, but if it hit the US coast, this may result in a lot more human loss because of the much higher population density in Florida.
After the National Hurricane Center warned of destructive waves that could reach up to 23ft, Georgia and South Carolina have issued evacuation orders for coastal communities and those who are not living along the coast but next to it are advised to stock food items and other things of necessities as prolonged power outage is expected.
Bahamian Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said it was the saddest day of his life. He said one could not differentiate between the street and the sea apart. “I just want to say as a physician I’ve been trained to withstand many things, but never anything like this. We are facing a hurricane that we have never seen before in The Bahamas. Please pray for us.”
US President Donald Trump has also requested people to pray for the people of the Bahamas, as it is this year’s strongest storm in the world.
At least three category 5 storms have hit America in past two years. In September 2017, Hurricane Irma was the strongest Atlantic basin hurricane ever recorded which had affected at least nine US states. The same month Hurricane Maria hit the US side of Puerto Rico, leaving millions of Americans without power, water or shelter.
In October 2018, Hurricane Michael hit the Florida Panhandle and created urban flooding.
