Hundreds of people in the Bahamas hunkered down in schools, churches and other shelters as officials recognized there weren't many structures on higher ground
McLEAN’S TOWN CAY, Bahamas — Hurricane Dorian struck the northern Bahamas on Sunday as a catastrophic Category 5 storm, its record 185 mph winds ripping off roofs and tearing down power lines as hundreds hunkered in schools, churches and other shelters.
Dorian’s power was second only to Hurricane Allen in 1980, with its 190 mph winds. That storm did not make landfall. By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time.“The end could be fatal,” said Samuel Butler, assistant police commissioner. “We ask you, we beg you, we plead with you to get to a place of safety.”
Among those refusing to leave were 32 people in Sweetings Cay, and a group that sought safety in Old Bahama Bay resort, which officials said was not safe. “We’re not taking no chances,” said Margaret Bassett, a ferry boat driver for the Deep Water Cay resort. “They said evacuate, you have to evacuate.”
Jeffrey Allen, who lives in Freeport on Grand Bahama, said he had learned after several storms that damage predictions sometimes don’t materialize, but he still takes precautions. The National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane watch for Florida’s East Coast from Deerfield Beach north to the Volusia and Brevard county line. The same area was also put under a storm surge watch. Lake Okeechobee was put under a tropical storm watch.
Palm Beach County ordered a mandatory evacuation for the eastern half of the county as of 1 p.m. Sunday. That included mobile homes, substandard housing, low-lying areas prone to flooding and homes along the Intracoastal Waterway and on barrier islands.
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