The Premier disclosed that the devastation hurricane Dorian brought to the Bahamas is reminiscent of the destruction that was caused by hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017.

“I shared with him that the people in the BVI are praying for his people. I told him that having gone through the experience in 2017, BVI is more than willing to assist with providing advice on the best practices as they seek to recover,” Hon. Fahie said.

Hurricane Dorian, which initially as a category one passed the BVI last Wednesday, struck the Bahamas on Sunday as a category five, and continued to pound Grand Bahama Island today, Monday.

The hurricane caused significant damage to Great Abaco Island. In fact, videos and photos shared via social media showed homes submerged in water and many buildings destroyed.

In responding to the sad situation, Premier Fahie in his statement said, “People of the BVI we have been seeing preliminary images and reports emerging out of The Bahamas, indicating that there is already widespread flooding and damage to homes and property resulting from Hurricane Dorian.”

In the aftermath, an international media outlet noted that relief for Great Abaco might not be completed until Tuesday or Wednesday. In the interim, Hon. Fahie is calling on BVI residents to offer prayers for the people of the Bahamas.

“Our Caribbean neighbours need our prayers. I appeal to all our residents, and the wider community, to pray for our neighbours during this critical time, for surely we can empathise with the people of The Bahamas, having experienced the wrath of nature’s forces only two years ago,” he said.

At 11:00am this morning, Monday, September 2, the eye of Hurricane Dorian was located near latitude 26.8 North, longitude 78.3 West.

Dorian is moving very slowly toward the west near 1 mph (2 km/h). A slow westward to west-northwestward motion is forecast during the next day or so, followed by a gradual turn toward the northwest and north.

On this track, the core of extremely dangerous Hurricane Dorian will continue to pound Grand Bahama Island through much of today and tonight. The hurricane will then move dangerously close to the Florida east coast late tonight through Wednesday evening and then move dangerously close to the Georgia and South Carolina coasts on Wednesday night and Thursday.

Maximum sustained winds are near 155 mph (250 km/h) with higher gusts.