President Trump posted a video message to Americans, pleading with them to “heed all warnings and evacuation orders” from local authorities as a category 5 hurricane rips through the Bahamas. Earlier this week, President Trump referred to Hurrican Dorian as a “monster.”

In another tweet, President Trump warned people in Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama that they could be hit much harder than anticipated, telling everyont to “BE CAREFUL!”

Hurricane Dorian packed sustained winds of 185-mph with staggering 220-mph gusts as it made landfall in the Bahamas Sunday, prompting President Trump to tweet that the churning monster “is looking like one of the largest hurricanes ever” as it moved within 205 miles of Florida.

Daily Mail reports – Hurricane Dorian made landfall in the Northwestern Bahamas Sunday afternoon as a Category 5 and descended with fury – snapping trees, ripping the roofs off of homes with 185mph winds and 220mph gusts, and sending waves crashing onto the street.

Dorian made landfall in Elbow Cay in the Abacos Islands at 12.40pm ET, creating ‘catastrophic’ conditions, and made a second landfall at 2 pm on the Great Abaco Island, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The storm brought with it storm surges of over 20 feet and pounding wind and rain, making it the strongest hurricane in modern records to batter this part of the Bahamian islands.

Dorian is also tied for the strongest Atlantic hurricane landfall on record, on par with the 1935 Labor Day hurricane.

‘This is a life-threatening situation. Residents there should take immediate shelter. Do not venture into the eye if it passes over your location,’ the NHC said in an advisory after landfall.

As the eyewall of the storm hit the island, it bent utility poles and snapped trees and beat buildings with the howling wind. Bahamian Prime Minister Hubert Minnis announced Sunday parts of Marsh Harbor – a town of more than 6,000 – appeared to be ‘underwater’, sending desperate locals onto their roofs for shelter from the floodwaters.

In one heartbreaking video, a mother is heard pleading for help and prayers as she is stuck in the upper level of her Abaco Islands home with her baby while huge floods of water inundate the street.

As Dorian battered the islands and swirled perilously close to the U.S., Florida issued an official hurricane watch from Boca Raton through Brevard County and evacuations for its eastern coast – including President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.

Shocking video shows apartment complex underwater:

‘Although the official track forecast does not show landfall, users should not focus on the exact track since a Florida landfall is still a distinct possibility,’ the NHC said in a 5 am update.

First tropical-force winds are expected to reach South Florida as soon as late Sunday night or early Monday morning before dawn. The storm will bring with it two to four inches of rain in most parts of Florida, with coastal regions seeing four to six inches.

New York Post reports – Only four storms in the Atlantic have ever had higher sustained wind speeds, and none since Hurricane Wilma in 2005, AccuWeather reported, while the National Hurricane Center called Dorian “the strongest hurricane in modern records for the northwest Bahamas.”

The storm slowed its march over the ocean to just 7 mph as it approached the Abaco Islands in the Bahamas, and could remain over the archipelago for 30 hours as it brings up to 30 inches of rain and storm surges of up to 23 feet, the hurricane center said.

“It’s going to be very bad for the Bahamas,” said hurricane center director Ken Graham, calling Dorian a “very treacherous, very dangerous, life-threatening situation” for the islands.

Forecasters said Dorian could veer north before slamming the Florida coast, but state officials were taking no chances — the Sunshine State remained under a state of emergency Sunday as Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a mandatory evacuation order for the coasts of Palm Beach and Martin counties.

This video shows the hurricane headed toward Florida:

“If you live in these areas, heed the warning and listen to your local officials,” DeSantis tweeted. “This is a dangerous hurricane. Your safety is paramount.”

 

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