28 photos show how people in the Caribbean braced for Dorian as the hurricane heads for Florida
NASA / Handout / Reuters
Florida and the Bahamas are bracing for Hurricane Dorian.
Puerto Rico, Barbados, and St. Lucia have already experienced the hurricane's high winds and heavy rainfall. Trees have been battered and power has been lost.
Across the islands, and now in the US, fuel, food, and water are all being stockpiled, while schools and offices have closed.
People are hunkering down as Hurricane Dorian crosses the Atlantic Ocean and eyes Florida.
In preparation, people have stockpiled fuel, food, and water. Schools and offices have closed. Businesses have been boarded up. Some of the more brave souls made the most of Dorian and even went surfing.
Puerto Rico, Barbados, St. Lucia, and the Virgin Islands have already been battered by the hurricane. Puerto Rico was particularly concerned after the devastation it experienced from Hurricane Maria in 2017. Forecasters warned high winds and heavy rainfall could cause landslides, flooding and loss of power. But overall it wasn't too badly affected.
The fourth named storm of 2019, Dorian officially became a Category 1 on Wednesday. Now the storm is heading for the Bahamas and Florida.
Here are photos showing people preparing for, and surviving, Hurricane Dorian.
Barbados' Prime Minister Mia Mottley might be smiling in this photo, but on Sunday she warned her people to stay indoors, and ordered schools and offices to shut down. In a blunt televised speech, she told her country of 285,000: "When you're dead, you're dead. Stay inside and get some rest."
Nigel R. Browne / Reuters
Source: AP
On Sunday, Barbados prepared for the hurricane by piling sand on beaches to protect the waterfront and stop flooding. Diggers also cleared drains in preparation for heavy rainfall. Forecasts predict Barbados could get up to 8 inches of rain.
Nigel R. Browne / Reuters
Sources: Business Insider, The New York Times
People listened to Mottley's advice. In preparation, motorists waited in long lines to fill their cars with fuel.
Nigel R. Browne / Reuters
People also flocked to supermarkets for supplies before Dorian hit. Here's a full supermarket in Bridgetown, Barbados.
Nigel R Browne / Reuters
Water is the most common purchase. In previous storms, officials have cut off power and utilities, so a decent supply of drinking water is essential.
Nigel R. Browne / Reuters
Source: Business Insider
On Tuesday night, Dorian passed over Barbados. Here a man braves the elements on his bicycle.
Nigel R. Browne / Reuters
Another man walks to the end of the pier, once the worst of the storm had passed.
Nigel R Browne / Reuters
There was some damage. Parts of the island lost power, and volunteers had to clear some trees that were blocking roads.
Nigel R. Browne / Reuters
Source: WTOP
Dorian also hit St. Lucia, an island of about 180,000 people. On Monday the government ordered everything on the island to shut down. One hotel owner told AP that his establishment was ready and never waited for the formal announcement. "We're always prepared no matter what," he said.
Andrea de Silva / Reuters
Source: Business Insider, The Guardian
The National Hurricane Center lifted the tropical storm warning on St. Lucia Tuesday night. Other than heavy winds and rainfall battering the island, filling some boats with water, it wasn't too badly hit by Dorian.
Andrea de Silva / Reuters
In Puerto Rico on Monday, Gov. Wanda Vázquez Garced declared a state of emergency. Forecasters expected Dorian would bring up to 4 inches of rainfall for the island.
Ricardo Arduengo / Reuters
Source: Business Insider
People were stocking up in Puerto Rico, too. Some parts of the island still haven't recovered from Hurricane Maria, which devastated the US commonwealth two years ago.
Ricardo Arduengo / Reuters
Source: Al Jazeera
By Tuesday, the shelves were already empty in at least one grocery store — an unfortunate sign the territory knows how destructive these storms can be.
Ricardo Arduengo / Reuters
Source: Business Insider
On Tuesday morning, the National Weather Service issued a tropical storm watch for Puerto Rico. This means a tropical storm is expected to hit within 36 hours. Here, a boat races to dock on Monday night.
Ricardo Arduengo / Reuters
Source: CNN
Some people removed their boats from the water altogether ...
Ricardo Arduengo / Reuters
... while others secured them to mangroves.
Ricardo Arduengo / Reuters
Garced said 360 shelters would be ready for people who didn't have proper roofs. About 30,000 homes still use blue tarps for roofs, after a slow recovery from the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria.
Carlos Barria / Reuters
Sources: CNN, Business Insider
In preparation, emergency management crews also visited high flood risk areas before Dorian reached the island.
Gabriella N. Baez / Reuters
Residents and business owners did their best to protect their buildings, as they prepared for Dorian. Here store employees in Humacao covered the entrance to their shop with metal shutters.
Ricardo Arduengo / Reuters
Here, two men cut up plywood to cover windows at a beachfront restaurant.
Ricardo Arduengo / Reuters
But even after boarding the windows up, there isn't much space between buildings and the sea.
Ricardo Arduengo / Reuters
There was at least one benefit from the approaching storm. Some adventurous people were making the most of Dorian by surfing on the swells the hurricane caused, even as it loomed.
Ricardo Arduengo / Reuters
And it certainly wasn't just one brave soul.
Ricardo Arduengo / Reuters
On Wednesday, Dorian reached Puerto Rico, bringing heavy rains and strong winds, but it didn't directly hit the island. It did however hit Vieques and Culebra, two of Puerto Rico's smaller islands, with more force, causing flooding and power outages.
Ricardo Arduengo / Reuters
Source: The Wall Street Journal, CBS News
In the Dominican Republic on Tuesday, the government announced it had found 3,000 buildings that could be converted into shelters, which could hold up to 800,000 people. Dorian was forecasted to hit Hispaniola, the island the DR shares with Haiti, after Puerto Rico.
Erika Santelices / AFP / Getty
Source: Reuters
A lot of food rations were prepared for residents. But the DR escaped the worst of the storm, too.
Ricardo Rojas / Reuters
In Florida, a state of emergency was declared on Wednesday. Dorian is expected to reach the state late Sunday or early Monday morning. People have already begun preparing. In Orlando, dozens were filling sandbags to help with flooding.
Stephen M. Dowell / Orlando Sentinel / Tribune News Service / Getty
Source: CBS News
Dorian could douse Florida with up to 8 inches of rain, which could cause flash flooding. Like the Caribbean islands, people in Florida are already stockpiling fresh water. And they're waiting to see what Dorian does next.
Austin Fuller / Orlando Sentinel / Tribune News Service / Getty
Source: Insider
