DorianMondayMap
DorianMondayMap

By Travis Fedschun, Edmund DeMarche | Fox News

Hurricane Dorian, the monster of a storm that’s pummeled parts of the Bahamas for the past 36 hours, has been downgraded to a Category 3 storm as it finally starts to inch away from Grand Bahama — but the storm is showing signs it’s growing before taking aim at the Southeast.

The National Hurricane Center said, as of 8 a.m. EDT, the storm is continuing to produce wind gusts of up to 120 mph and a storm surge of 10-to-15 feet “with higher destructive waves.” The storm’s current movement is northwest at 1 mph with the southern eyewall continuing to “lash” Grand Bahama Island on Tuesday morning.

Dorian was located about 40 miles northeast of Freeport on Grand Bahama Island and about 110 miles east of West Palm Beach, Fla.

“Thirty-six hours of battering, major hurricane-force winds and storm surge and flooding rainfall for the Bahamas and the storm is still stationary,” Fox News Senior Meteorologist Janice Dean said on “Fox & Friends.” “It’s going through some structural changes in terms of the eye and when it does that, the wind field expands.”

The forecast track of Hurricane Dorian. (Fox News)

She added: “So this storm is getting larger, it’s going to affect more territory, even if the core of the strongest winds stay offshore.”

In the Bahamas, devastating images revealed the scope of the damage from Dorian’s catastrophic daylong halt over the islands that flooded Abaco and Grand Bahama with walls of water that lapped into the second floors of buildings.

Strong winds from Hurricane Dorian blow the tops of trees and brush while whisking up water seen from the balcony of a hotel in Freeport, Grand Bahama, Bahamas, Monday, Sept. 2, 2019. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

“We are in the midst of a historic tragedy,” Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said. “The devastation is unprecedented and extensive.”

Officials said that at least five people have died and 21 injured people were airlifted to the capital by the U.S. Coast Guard. Bahamian officials said they received a “tremendous” number of calls from people in flooded homes, with one radio station saying it received more than 2,000 distress messages, including reports of a 5-month-old baby stranded on a roof and a woman with six grandchildren who cut a hole in a roof to escape rising floodwaters.

“We’re definitely in dire straits.”— Bahaman Parliament member Iram Lewis

Videos posted to Twitter showed the extent of storm surge, with floodwaters nearing the second-story of homes.

Shavonia Cunningham@Shavonia

Freeport, Grand Bahama #HurricaneDorian #Freeport #Dorian1,8672:52 PM – Sep 2, 2019

Parliament member Iram Lewis told The Associated Press his greatest fear was that waters would keep rising overnight and that stranded people would lose contact with officials as cellphone batteries died.

“It is scary,” he said, adding that Grand Bahama’s airport was 6 feet underwater and that people were moving from one shelter to another as floodwaters kept surging. “We’re definitely in dire straits.”

MVP@mvp242

Happening now! Usa Coast Guard Helicopter arriving in Abaco,Bahamas to transport Critical injured ppl to the as Abaco Clinic is overwhelming crowded with ppl who need assistance and also it’s being used as a shelter to house thousands #HurricaneDorain3,4334:30 PM – Sep 2, 2019

Winds and rain continued to pound the northwest islands. Abaco and Grand Bahama, neither much more than 40 feet above sea level at their highest points, are home to some 70,000 people.

Hurricane Dorian batters the Bahamas with record-setting fury

Insight from Lou Lentine who owns a home in the Bahamas.

The NHC has said that Dorian is forecast to slowly begin moving to the west-northwest Tuesday while continuing to pound Grand Bahama Island into the morning. The storm will then move “dangerously close” to Florida’s east coast through Wednesday evening before taking aim at the Georgia and South Carolina coasts on Wednesday night and Thursday.

Hundreds of thousands of people in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina were ordered to evacuate, with South Carolina officials reversing all lanes of Interstate 26 from Charleston to head inland.

By Thursday night, Hurricane Dorian is forecast to be near or over the North Carolina coast, still as a Category 2 storm.

People stand on the boardwalk along the Atlantic Ocean at night as the outer bands of Hurricane Dorian reach Vero Beach, Fla., Monday, Sept. 2, 2019. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

“We’re talking about perhaps a major hurricane or category 2 moving in somewhere, the border between North and South Carolina, that’s going to do devastating things to the low-lying areas,” Dean said Tuesday.

A hurricane watch was in effect for Florida’s East Coast from Deerfield Beach north to South Santee River in South Carolina. A storm surge watch was extended northward to South Santee River in South Carolina. Lake Okeechobee was under a tropical storm watch.

The storm is also having a major impact on travelers, with airlines canceling scores of flights to Orlando, Fort Lauderdale and Miami airports.

Strong winds move the palms of the palm trees at the first moment of the arrival of Hurricane Dorian in Freeport, Grand Bahama, Bahamas, Sunday Sept. 1, 2019. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Walt Disney World said its four theme parks will close by 3 p.m. on Tuesday because of Hurricane Dorian. The theme park resort also plans to close its water park, miniature golf courses and its restaurants and shops at Disney Springs by 3 p.m. on Tuesday.

Disney World officials said its resorts will remain open.

Its campground will close at 3 p.m. Tuesday and stay closed until the hurricane passes near the Florida coast. Guests at the campground will be relocated to other resorts at Disney World.

The  Associated Press contributed to this report. Travis Fedschun is a reporter for FoxNews.com.

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