First aerial surveys are being conducted in the northern Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian ploughed through. It spent two full days grinding the islands with major hurricane force winds, peaking at CAT5 and 185 mph (298 km/h). Extremely severe winds combined with a massive storm surge, reaching as much as 8 m high. The devastation in the wake of Dorian looks like the aftermath of a nuclear blast.
Here is a 2-day radar animation of #Dorian from KAMX (1000 UTC 1 Sep – 0332UTC 3 Sep).
Watch the eye come into view, undergo an ERC over #GrandBahama island & then remain stationary for the rest of the day as it slowly degrades & broadens from ocean upwelling / land interaction. pic.twitter.com/LFOkNNlHR8
— Philippe Papin (@pppapin) September 3, 2019
Abaco Island was hit by the full brunt of the massive CAT5 monster, with 185 mph (298 km/h), while Grand Bahama island received slightly lesser 145-175 mph (233-282 km/h) winds, but this was offset by Dorian coming to a halt over the central part of the island and grinding it with intense winds for 36 hours! The entire region was also inundated by a storm surge up to 6-8 m high. Indeed, spaceborne cloud-penetrating radar imagery shows large parts of Grand Bahama completely submerged while under the hurricane.
Devastating storm surge on Grand Bahama island: satellite image of Freeport before Dorian (top) and satellite radar image during storm surge (bottom). Only the old town is reported to have remained above the storm surge. Large parts of the island were submerged. Image: @Rankinstudio / @ReedTimmerAccu TW
#HurricaneDorian has affected Bahamas heavily on Monday, with vast areas hit with #flooding, including the Grand Bahama International Airport, Freeport. ICEYE #SAR satellite image from 11:44AM local time. Please, stay safe! (Y: coastline. W: roads. Source: OpenStreetMap.) pic.twitter.com/ruXau8QhKn
— ICEYE (@iceyefi) September 2, 2019
Aerial surveys show the chilling reality of the aftermath of Dorian: much of infrastructure and housing on both islands destroyed, leveled to the ground in some areas.
Aerial photos of Abaco. Officials flew over the area today to survey the damage. Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis said Hurricane Dorian visited “unprecedented devastation” on the island.#hurricane #hurricanedorian #hurricanedorian2019 #hurricanedorian242 #Bahamasstronger 😥🙏🏽🇧🇸 pic.twitter.com/o1ksy3d5dP
— 🇧🇸James Julmis🇧🇸 (@julmisjames) September 3, 2019
WXChasing shows devestation on Abacos from hurricane #Dorian, and stated, “Josh @iCyclone is a very resilient person and I’m very confident he is just fine . . . zero coms and the only way off the island is to swim about 50 miles so he isn’t missing, he is simply off the grid.” pic.twitter.com/8Rrb9pZ2Tb
— Video Connoisseur™ (@LiveConnoisseur) September 3, 2019
We are starting to get some aerial pictures from Abaco where #Dorian made landfall as a 185 mph CAT 5 hurricane. Needless to say, damage is catastrophic. Credit: James Julmis pic.twitter.com/CwgljP00xp
— Paul Dellegatto⚡️FOX (@PaulFox13) September 3, 2019
Heartwrenching visuals incoming from the Bahamas. We’re getting our first look at the aftermath left behind by #HurricaneDorian Our hearts go out to those already affected by this historic storm. > https://t.co/f9fhfA4y2R pic.twitter.com/syscWnlaAZ
— WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) September 3, 2019
Aerial footage shows the devastation in the Bahamas, where Hurricane Dorian barreled to shore Sunday as a Category 5 storm and left at least five people dead. https://t.co/ypPCyODxpZ pic.twitter.com/440HnIvHB6
— ABC News (@ABC) September 3, 2019
WATCH: Aerial footage shows scale of devastation of Abaco Islands in Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian. https://t.co/gB1EyJ8OHC pic.twitter.com/RlCZuVsdDs
— NBC News (@NBCNews) September 3, 2019
#MarshHarbour #Bahamas 15 minutes ago. Airport is still under 3 feet of water. Cherokee Air and Abaco Air reported destroyed. Ok for news media to use with acknowledgement. Prayers. This is really tough to watch. #HurricaneDorian @GovRonDeSantis @DenisPhillips28 pic.twitter.com/gAZf2Byt6c
— Terry Power (@TerryPowerFL) September 3, 2019
WATCH: Disturbing aerial footage shows destruction in the Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian pummeled the island nation https://t.co/6nNWCmdT2t pic.twitter.com/iyNpDv4aqY
— CBS News (@CBSNews) September 3, 2019
Also see video reports by people trapped on both islands while getting hit by Dorian:
24 hours of Hurricane Dorian: Grand Bahama devastated – reports
From the grinder: Grand Bahama devastated by Hurricane Dorian