Hurricane Dorian unleashed "catastrophic conditions" Sunday as it slammed into the northern Bahamas, lashing the low-lying island chain with devastating 185 mph (295 kph) winds, the most intense in its modern history.
The monster Category 5 storm made landfall at Elbow Cay in the Abaco Islands at 1645 GMT, according to the Miami-based National Hurricane Center, which reported winds gusting over 220 mph.
"This is a life-threatening situation. Residents there should take immediate shelter," it said, predicting a towering storm surge of 18 to 23 feet.
Local radio reported that people were calling for help after winds blew the roof off the Island Breezes Hotel in Marsh Harbor, a commercial hub in the Abacos.
"Things are really starting to rock and roll," a post on the Facebook page of the Hope Town Bulletin in Abacos said at 10 am local time.
"Limbs cracking and popping now," said another.
Many Abacos residents were reported to have opted to ride out the hurricane rather than heed government warnings to evacuate.
The Nassau Guardian quoted local resident Troy Albury as saying 150 people stayed behind in Guana Cay, in the center of the Abacos, to face the storm's fury. Only eight left on the last ferry out, he said.
Power went out as the storm approached, a resident of Man-o-war Cay in the Abacos told AFP.
The NHC said Dorian had become "the strongest hurricane in modern records for the northwestern Bahamas."
"That's also torrential rainfall of 15 to 20 inches, isolated 30 inches."
In Washington, US President Donald Trump met with his emergency management chiefs and declared "this looks monstrous."
Prime Minister Hubert Minnis has warned residents "the price you may pay for not evacuating is your life or other serious physical harm."
"That's going to be very difficult as the storm starts to move northward, mostly like, up the coast of Florida and toward Georgia and South Carolina," he said on ABC's "This Week."
While Miami appeared likely to be largely spared, 30-year-old David Duque, picking up sandbags there on Saturday, noted "everything could change... I know it could be a scare, but better prepare instead of doing nothing."
Following a similar state order in Florida, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster declared a state of emergency Saturday, saying, "Given the strength and unpredictability of the storm, we must prepare for every possible scenario."
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