Hurricane Dorian is continuing to devastate the Bahamas, where deadly winds and flooding killed five people and left many more stranded on the Grand Bahama and Abaco Islands over the weekend. At one point, the storm was the second-most powerful hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean. It pummeled the Bahamas with winds up to 180 miles per hour before stalling over the region. This is Prime Minister of the Bahamas Hubert Minnis.
Prime Minister Hubert Minnis: “We are in the midst of a historic tragedy in parts of northern Bahamas. Our mission and focus now is search, rescue and recovery. I ask for your prayers for those in affected areas and for our first responders.”
Hurricane Dorian made landfall as a Category 5 storm, but President Trump claimed over the weekend that he had never heard of Category 5. The U.S. has in fact been threatened by four Category 5 storms during Trump’s presidency. Trump also denied knowing what a Category 5 storm was in 2017, when Hurricane Irma struck Florida, and in 2018, when Hurricane Michael hit Florida.
Trump also caused confusion Sunday by falsely suggesting Alabama would be hit by Hurricane Dorian. His tweet — one of at least 122 he posted this weekend — was quickly denied by the National Weather Service. Trump spent the long weekend golfing at his club in Virginia despite the hurricane and the mass shooting in West Texas. Dorian is expected to continue its destructive path toward Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. We’ll have more on Hurricane Dorian later in the broadcast.