MIAMI – Hurricane Joaquin gained power as it bore down on the central Bahamas early Thursday, and forecasters said it was likely to grow into a major storm while following a path that would near the U.S. East Coast by the weekend.
Some minor damage was reported by Bahamas officials late Wednesday, and islanders rushed to prepare for storm surges and heavy rain from the approaching Joaquin. Authorities said the center was likely to pass near or over several islands during the night and Thursday.
Joaquin was a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph and hurricane strength winds extending 35 miles from the eye late Wednesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said. The center of the storm was about 170 miles east of the central Bahamas and moving southwest at 6 mph.
The storm was predicted to turn to the north and northwest toward the United States late Thursday or Friday, but forecasters were still gathering data trying to determine how it might affect the U.S.
On Eleuthera, a narrow strip to the north of Cat Island, people removed stray coconuts and other debris from their yards and put up storm shutters in blustery winds, said Chris Gosling, who runs a volunteer ambulance service on the island. Islanders have learned from past storms not to take chances.
A hurricane warning was posted for Eleuthera as well as San Salvador, Cat Island and Rum Cay, with the threat of storm surges, coastal flooding and 5-10 inches of rain, said Geoffrey Greene, a senior forecaster with the Bahamas Meteorology Department.
Stephen Russell, director of the country's National Emergency Management Agency, said Wednesday night that storm surges washed out a portion of the main road on San Salvador and some people in low-lying areas of Mayaguana island were urged to evacuate their homes.
Those islands have relatively small populations, fewer than 1,000 on San Salvador, but they are vulnerable in a storm since most of the people live along the shoreline in modest homes.
A warning also was issued for some more populous islands in the northwestern Bahamas, including Grand Bahama and New Providence, where the capital of Nassau is.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center's long-term forecast showed the storm could near the U.S. East Coast along North Carolina and Virginia on Sunday.