As Hurricane Dorian struck the Abaco Islands in the northwestern Bahamas on Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said that the maximum sustained winds around the eye of the “extremely dangerous” storm had reached 185 miles an hour, making it a “catastrophic” storm with “devastating winds.”

Early images and video emerging from the area showed scenes of devastation as the powerful, slow-moving storm churned its way late Sunday across Great Abaco Island toward Grand Bahama Island. Forecasters said it would continue to lash those islands into Monday. Storm surges of as much as 18 to 23 feet were possible, enough to swamp many low-lying areas of the islands, and as much as 25 inches of rain could fall before the storm passes.

The hurricane center warned that no one should venture outdoors into the eye of the storm.

“The hurricane will move dangerously close to the Florida east coast late Monday through Tuesday night,” the hurricane center said.
A hurricane warning was issued for the Florida coast from near Jupiter to near Titusville, with hurricane or tropical storm watches posted for additional stretches of coast to either side and for Lake Okeechobee. A storm surge warning was posted from Lantana, near Boca Raton, to near Titusville, with watches posted on either side. Storm surge along the Florida coast could reach 4 to 7 feet in places, forecasters said.