NASSAU, The Bahamas – A Hurricane Warning has now been issued for residents in the Southeast Bahamas – hours after Dr the Hon Hubert Minnis, Prime Minister, delivered a strong message of the need to evacuate – voluntary or NEMA assisted.

The warning includes Mayaguana, Inagua, Crooked Island, Acklins, Ragged Island, Long Cay, Samana Cay and the Turks and Caicos Islands. This means that hurricane conditions could affect the mentioned islands within 36 hours. Residents should rush to complete last details of preparation as the storm has reached Category 5 status.

The latest hurricane alert from the Bahamas Department of Meteorology – Alert #9 issued at 6am, Wednesday, September 6, 2017 details the track of the storm and potential threat to The Bahamas.

ALERT #9:

The eye of potentially catastrophic category 5 Hurricane Irma is moving away from Barbuda and toward St Martin.

A hurricane warning is now in effect for the islands of the Southeast Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands.  This includes the islands of Mayaguana, Inagua, Crooked Island, Acklins, Ragged Island, Long Cay, Samana Cay and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

A hurricane warning means that hurricane conditions could affect the mentioned islands within 36 hours.

A Hurricane Watch is now in effect for the islands of the Central Bahamas.  This includes the islands of Long Island, Cat Island, Rum Cay, San Salvador and The Exumas

A hurricane watch means that hurricane conditions could affect the mentioned islands within 48 hours

A hurricane alert is now in effect for the Northwest Bahamas.  This includes the islands of Eleuthera, New Providence, Andros, The Berry Islands, Bimini, Grand Bahama and Abaco.

A hurricane alert means that hurricane conditions could affect the mentioned islands within 60 hours.

At 6 am the center of Hurricane Irma was located near latitude 17.9 degrees north and longitude 62.6 degrees west or about 35 miles east-southeast of St martin, 636 miles southeast of the Turks and Caicos Islands, 723 miles Southeast of Matthew Town Inagua and 1070 miles southeast of New Providence.

Hurricane Irma is moving toward the west-northwest at about 16 mph and this general motion is expected to continue for the next couple of days.  On the forecast track, the extremely dangerous core of Irma will move over portions of the Leeward Islands this morning, move near or over portions of the northern Virgin Islands later today, and pass near or just north of Puerto Rico this afternoon or tonight. 

Maximum sustained winds remain near 185 miles per hour with higher gusts.  Irma is a category five hurricane on the Safir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.  Some fluctuations in intensity are likely during the next day or two, but Irma is forecast to remain a powerful category four or five hurricane during the next couple of days.

Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 50 miles from the center and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 175 miles from the center.

Residents in Inagua, Mayaguana, Crooked Island, Acklins, Ragged Island, Long Cay, Samana Cay and the Turks and Caicos Islands should rush to complete all preparation as Hurricane Irma could begin to affect these islands on Thursday afternoon.  Residents in Long Island, Cat Island, Rum Cay, San Salvador and The Exumas should seriously begin preparation for the dangerous hurricane, which could possibly begin to affect them on Friday morning.  Residents in Eleuthera, New Providence, Andros, The Berry Islands, Bimini, Grand Bahama and Abaco should also begin to make preparation for possible affects from Hurricane Irma and continue to listen and pay close attention to all alerts issued by The Bahamas Department of Meteorology.

Extensive to severe flooding can be expected as Irma is forecast to produce rainfall amounts of 8 to 12 inches over Inagua, Mayaguana, Crooked Island, Acklins, Ragged Island, Long Cay, Samana Cay and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

The combination of a dangerous storm surge and large and destructive waves could raise water levels by as much as 15 to 20 feet above normal tide in Inagua, Mayaguana, Crooked Island, Acklins, Ragged Island, Long Cay, Samana Cay and the Turks and Caicos Islands.  Residents residing on the coast in these islands are asked to immediately seek safe shelter further inland.