AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Hurricane Dorian, now a Category 4 storm, is stalled over the northern Bahamas. It's moving at just 1 mile an hour as it pulls away and begins a turn to the north toward the southeastern United States. Storm surges, estimated at 15 to 20 feet, are crashing onto Grand Bahama Island. Over the weekend, Dorian left thousands of people on Abaco Island to the east without roofs, transportation and communications. Lindsay Thompson is with the Bahamas National Emergency Management Agency. She did not have any immediate information on casualties.
LINDSAY THOMPSON: Preliminary information indicates that there is extensive flooding. Of course, there will be infrastructural damage when you have that level of a storm - a hurricane - historic, as well - passing through an island, which is relatively flat, as well. There's a lot of sand dunes. And so there is a concern for us with excessive flooding.
CHANG: What about injuries?
THOMPSON: Well, we haven't had any reports of injuries. Not that there aren't any, but we just don't have any reports of injuries as yet, if there are any.
CHANG: Well, how much were the islands able to prepare for Hurricane Dorian? I mean, to stock up on adequate supplies, to make sure people got to shelters safely. Do you think there was enough time in advance?
THOMPSON: Oh, absolutely. From the first module that came up that showed the path of Dorian. Based on experience, Grand Bahama and even the other islands - we've weathered many ferocious storms. And so it has become our way of life. Can you imagine six months out of a year, you're in a hurricane basin? And at any point from June 1 to November 30, you could be struck with a hurricane, whether a Category 1 or Category 5. We remind the public that it is, you know, their duty to prepare themselves and their families for any disaster, whether it's natural or man-made.
CHANG: So over the next 24 hours, tell us what you're going to be looking for. What are the main priorities?
THOMPSON: Over the next 24 hours, the storm will still be impacting the northwest Bahamas at some level because we were hearing, based on the predictions, this storm would not be clear out of the Bahamas until about Wednesday. So we're still expecting the level of damage that kind of strength would do on a flat island. We know we have to rebuild. That's obvious.
CHANG: Lindsay Thompson is with the Bahamas National Emergency Management Agency. We reached her on New Providence Island. And we will continue to update listeners on the progress of Hurricane Dorian as it moves north towards the United States.
Thanks very much for joining us today.
THOMPSON: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.