Bahamas battered by Hurricane Frances

Howling winds from Hurricane Frances toppled trees and left a path of destruction across the Bahamas capital Nassau today as it headed for Florida.

One man was killed but his cause of death was unclear.

The hurricane’s maximum sustained winds dropped from 145 mph to 120 mph during the night, prompting forecasters to downgrade it to a Category 3.

But Frances still lashed Nassau with tropical storm force winds that knocked out power, pounded the city with rough surf and blew out windows in skyscrapers.

Streets were deserted in the city, which is on New Providence Island and home to more than two-thirds of the country’s 300,000 people. Fallen trees, debris and satellite dishes that had been yanked from their mountings littered roadways and three boats were destroyed.

Telephones lines on the southern islands of Abaco, Mayaguana and Acklins were lost.

“While intensity has decreased a little bit overnight, it’s still a major Category 3 hurricane and has the potential to regain its former strength,” said Jamie Rhome, a meteorologist at the US National Hurricane Centre in Miami.

The hurricane was expected to hit Freeport, the commercial centre of the Bahamas, tonight or early Saturday. Unlike Nassau, Freeport has fewer skyscrapers and its building are better built.

Still, fearful residents boarded their homes and hunkered down inside to ride out the storm, a day after it battered the nation’s sparsely populated southeastern islands on Thursday.

Guests at the 2,300-room Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island, outside Nassau, were told to leave their rooms and stay in a conference room.

“I came for a week of sunshine and beaches in the Bahamas and can’t believe this happening,” said Jo Pain, a 37-year-old toy buyer from London. “It’s frightening. The rain is pelting down, the winds are incredible and it’s so loud out there.”