Bahamians hunker down as Hurricane Dorian makes landfall

TAMPA, Fla. (FOX 13) - Hurricane Dorian barreled through the Bahamas as a Category 5 hurricane Saturday, turning streets into rivers and causing extensive damage to the islands.

Latrae Rehming, who lives in Nassau, says it's been nothing but non-stop rain and some strong wind gusts. Nassau is about 90 miles south of Abaco where residents are experiencing the worst of the storm. Rehming has several friends there and says he is praying for everyone's safety.

Video shows strong winds and heavy rain blasting the island of Abaco Saturday. Some roads were completely flooded in a neighborhood near the ocean. Cell phone video showed water rushing into the area.

"Around the island there is a lot of water. I think they anticipate because of the tide system we can expect more flooding on the island of Nassau. But currently, right now everyone is focused on Abaco and Grand Bahama," Rehming said.

Abaco and Grand Bahama is where Rehming says his friends are taking cover from the storm. He says they told him multiple roofs had been torn off of homes. Some buildings were demolished. Other buildings were badly damaged, but still standing.

"If we could feel the wind in Nassau, I can't imagine what's happening in Marsh Harbour and Abaco," Rehming said.

Rehming spoke to friends early Saturday morning who told him they were safe. He hasn't heard from them since and says cell service has been out ever since Hurricane Dorian made landfall.

"Some of these homes up the coast have very strong concrete frames. The only thing they may have is a compromised roof, but everything else was pretty decent. They said they were on elevated land," Rehming said.

Rehming says some of his friends were being evacuated by people using tractors and dump trucks. As far as he knows, he says so far all of his friends seem to be safe.