The most damaging storm to strike the island nation, Dorian killed at least seven people, but the scope of the destruction was still coming into focus as aerial video of the
Abaco Islands in the northern Bahamas showed wide devastation.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Dorian, which has already wrought major damage on Grand Bahama and
Abaco islands, was packing maximum sustained winds of 185kmph, making it a Category 3 storm on the five-level scale.
It battered the
Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama, in the north of the archipelago, for two days.
It's not rebuilding something that was there; we have to start again" - aid worker Lia Head-Rigby on the hurricanehit
Abaco Islands. "Just walking down memory lane is not my favourite thing to do.
The British Royal Navy delivered food to the hard-hit
Abaco Islands Tuesday night, according to the Bahamian prime minister.
Jens Laerke, from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said that initial assessments from Grand Bahama and the
Abaco Islands - where the storm made landfall and was effectively stationary as of Tuesday morning, local time - were 'rather catastrophic.
With airports and Freeport container terminal knocked out, the only way to reach places such as
Abaco Islands, Elbow Key, Freeport and other areas is by helicopter and small ship, according to people involved in the rescue efforts.
Food may be required for 14,500 people in the northern Bahamas'
Abaco Islands and for 45,700 people in Grand Bahama, the U.N.
Practically parking over a portion of the Bahamas for a day and a half, Dorian pounded the northern
Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama with winds up to 185 mph and torrential rain before finally moving into open waters Tuesday on a course for Florida.
Briefing journalists in Geneva, Jens Laerke from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that initial assessments from Grand Bahama and the
Abaco Islands - where the storm made landfall and is effectively stationary as of Tuesday morning, local time - were "rather catastrophic".
On Sunday, Dorian churned over the
Abaco Islands with battering winds and surf and heavy flooding.