‘Dangerous’ Irene lashes Bahamas, aims at US coast

BAHAMAS: Hurricane Irene pounded the Bahamas Wednesday with sustained winds of 120 miles (195 kilometers) an hour and churned up heavy seas as it barreled on a path toward the populous US east coast.

The storm became a major category three hurricane, fueled by warm waters in the Atlantic, and spread over a wide area as it swirled over the sprawling archipelago of the Bahamas, picking up intensity.

US satellite images showed Irene churned past the Dominican Republic and meteorologists said its tropical force winds extended out some 255 miles (410 kilometers).

The US National Hurricane Center in Miami said Irene, the first hurricane of the Atlantic storm season, was expected to become a category four storm with winds of 135 miles (217 kilometers) per hour.

It said Irene was “dangerously approaching the northwestern Bahamas, in an update at 0300 GMT (Thursday), moving northwest at 12 mph (19 kmh). “My husband already started getting the shutters together, and we’re also packing to get out,” said Edna Smith, whose house in Holmes Rock, Grand Bahama, was flooded in the last hurricanes in 2004 and 2005. “We’re not staying there. We’re probably going to a shelter.”

Deborah Rolle rushed to load groceries in the back of her car in Freeport after making last-minute purchases.

“I’m trying to get a jump-start on things, getting everything prepared,” she said.

The path of the storm raised concerns along the US east coast, and US officials were closely watching for shifts in its forecast track. AFP