
Dramatic new before and after aerial photos show how parts of the Bahamas have been obliterated by winds of up to 185mph during deadly Hurricane Dorian.

The shocking images depict the waste laid to the small keys that make up the Abaco Islands, north of Nassau, as ships were blown into harbors, thousands of houses were destroyed and seawater surged on to land.

One image shows sailing vessels hundreds of meters on shore after being forced to run aground during the vicious hurricane which hit the area on Tuesday.

Another pictures what was an area made up of scorched earth and narrow trees around Marsh Harbour Airport, now lying waterlogged and closely resembling a mangrove.

Hurricane Dorian's center is moving parallel to Florida's northeastern coast as its outer bands threaten the Sunshine State with torrential rains and tropical storm-force winds.

It has left at least seven dead in the Bahamas, where the prime minister said terrified residents had endured 'days of horror' at the hands of the monster storm.

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‹ Slide me › The shocking images depict the waste laid to the small keys that make up the Abaco Islands (left before the storm, and right after the hurricane hit on Tuesday), north of Nassau, as ships were blown into harbors, thousands of houses were destroyed and seawater surged on to land

‹ Slide me › Hurricane Dorian churned towards the US on Wednesday after leaving seven dead in the Bahamas (left, the Abaco Islands before the storm, and right, the aftermath on Tuesday), where the prime minister said terrified residents had endured 'days of horror' at the hands of the monster storm

The storm's maximum sustained winds Wednesday morning were around 105mph, making it a Category 2 storm.

Dorian is centered about 95 miles east of Daytona Beach, Florida, and is moving about 8mph, just a day after it devastated the Bahamas.

The storm is expected to produce 5 to 10 inches of rain in the Coastal Carolinas, 3 to 6 inches along the Atlantic Coast from Daytona Beach to the Georgia-South Carolina line and 3 to 6 inches in southeast Virginia.

There are also areas in the Carolinas that may get up to 15 inches of rain and parts of Georgia may receive 9 inches.

'This rainfall may cause life-threatening flash floods,' the National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned Wednesday morning.

Aerial footage showed scenes of catastrophic damage in the Bahamas, with hundreds of homes missing roofs, cars submerged or overturned, widespread flooding and boats reduced to matchwood.

‹ Slide me › One image shows sailing vessels hundreds of meters on shore (right, the aftermath on the Abaco Islands on Tuesday, and left before the storm hit) after being forced to run aground during the vicious weather to hit the area on Tuesday

‹ Slide me › Another pictures what was an area made up of scorched earth and narrow trees (left), now waterlogged and closely resembling a mangrove (left, before the storm hit and right, Marsh Harbour Airport on the Abaco Islands after the devastating hurricane)

Harrowing accounts emerged, with one survivor describing how he had watched his wife drown.

A satellite radar image shows Abaco Islands during Hurricane Dorian, with substantial flooding

Announcing the updated death toll, Prime Minister Hubert Minnis warned the number would rise as he called Dorian 'one of the greatest national crises in our country's history.'

'Parts of Abaco are decimated. There's severe flooding, there's severe damage to homes, businesses, other buildings and infrastructure,' he said.

Bahamas residents 'endured hours and days of horror, fearing for their lives and the lives of their loved ones,' Minnis said.

All tropical storm warnings for the islands had been discontinued, the National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said, as more accounts of the suffering it inflicted emerged.

Crab fisherman Howard Armstrong described how the water flooded his home, coming up to his roof.

'I would imagine 21ft at least. We were doing all right until the water kept coming up and all the appliances were going around the house like a washing machine,' he told CNN.

'My poor little wife got hypothermia and she was standing on top of the kitchen cabinets until they disintegrated... I kept with her and she just drowned on me,' said Armstrong, who eventually made it to his boat.

The online Bahamas Press published video of flooding in the Rand Memorial Hospital in Freeport and said patients had been forced to evacuate the facility.

A satellite radar image from Monday of Grand Bahama during Hurricane Dorian shows large portions flooded due to the storm surge

This satellite shows the now Tropical Storm Dorian as it sits above the Bahamas at 11.20am UTC on Wednesday

A handout photo made available by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows a satellite image of Hurricane Juliette (left), Tropical Storm Fernand (center) and Hurricane Dorian (right) at 1.20pm EDT on Wednesday

As of 4pm Tuesday afternoon, most of Florida appeared to sit outside of the predicted path Hurricane Dorian is expected to take. It is set to hug the east coast as it moves northwards during the week

This still image taken from NASA TV shows Hurricane Dorian as viewed from the International Space Station on Wednesday

A huge, swirling cloud looms over the sea in the picture, with part of the International Space station shown in the bottom right corner

An aerial view shows the devastation caused by Hurricane Dorian after it hit the Abaco Islands in the Bahamas on Tuesday. Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Minnis on Tuesday said seven people had been killed since the storm made landfall

Houses lay gutted after the storm continued to tear through properties on the islands on Tuesday, as shown in this aerial from yesterday

Debris left by Hurricane Dorian litters Grand Bahama International Airport in Freeport on Wednesday as the storm made its way towards the US coastline

Mister Bolter recovers dishes from his son's home, destroyed by Hurricane Dorian in Pine Bay, near Freeport, Bahamas, on Wednesday

The US Coast Guard sent helicopters to Andros Island in the southern Bahamas to help with search and rescue operations as residents trapped in their homes by floodwaters issued distress calls. Pictured: A chair is caught in a grove after the strong winds

An aerial photo of damage from Hurricane Dorian to a neighborhood on Grand Bahama Island on Wednesday, with single-storey houses swamped in floodwater

The US Coast Guard sent helicopters to Andros Island in the southern Bahamas to help with search and rescue operations as residents trapped in their homes by floodwaters issued distress calls.

But the runways at Grand Bahama International Airport in the island's largest city Freeport were under water, complicating rescue efforts.

The Miami-based NHC said the core of the storm 'will move dangerously close to the Florida east coast and the Georgia coast through Wednesday night.'

Dorian would move 'near or over' the South and North Carolina coasts Thursday through Friday morning.

President Donald Trump warned people against complacency.

Dorian is centered about 95 miles east-northeast of Daytona Beach (pictured on Wednesday), Florida, and is moving at about 8mph

The storm's maximum sustained winds Wednesday morning (pictured at Dayton Beach) are near 105mph, making it a Category 2 storm

'The US may be getting a little bit lucky with respect to Hurricane Dorian, but please don't let down your guard. As it heads up the coast, lots of very bad and unpredictable things can happen!' he tweeted.

'On the other hand, the Bahamas have been devastated,' he wrote.

Dorian, which has dumped as much as 30ins of rain on the Bahamas, was downgraded Tuesday morning to a Category 2 hurricane on the five-level wind scale.

But it is 'expected to remain a powerful hurricane during the next few days,' the NHC said.

A state of emergency has been declared in parts of the east coast for millions of US residents potentially in its path.

Dorian, which has dumped as much as 30ins of rain on the Bahamas (pictured at Freeport on Tuesday), was downgraded Tuesday morning to a Category 2 hurricane on the five-level wind scale

A main road remains clear (left) despite carnage either side of it as Hurricane Dorian leaves the Bahamas to undertake a mammoth clean up operation. Right: The islands' lands have become floodplains after the storm surge

Abaco Islands in the Bahamas (pictured) was battered by the powerful storm, with houses torn apart and left without roofs

A graphic shows how the Atlantic Ocean has swamped huge areas of Grand Bahama, the northernmost island, leaving just a thin strip of land above water

Late Tuesday, Trump tweeted: 'I am getting the North Carolina Emergency Declaration completed and signed tonight. Hope you won't need it!'

The Pentagon said 5,000 members of the National Guard and 2,700 active-duty troops were ready to help out if needed.

Some mandatory evacuations were lifted Tuesday afternoon for parts of southern Florida, while further north, a large swathe of the state's coast - as well as that from mid-Georgia to southern North Carolina - remained under a hurricane warning.

'The images coming in from the Bahamas are gut-wrenching, but show exactly how fortunate Florida has been with this storm,' said Jared Moskowitz, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, warning the state would still be impacted by Dorian.

A US Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater handout released on Wednesday shows boats strewn across a marina in Andros Island, Bahamas, on Monday

The Hurricane Dorian death toll was at seven on Tuesday but the country was warned to expected more devastation. An aerial view of the Abaco Islands in the Bahamas in this still image from video obtained via social media

'Throughout tonight and tomorrow, our state will still experience storm surge, high winds and other impacts along the coast, and I urge every Floridian to take these threats seriously,' he said.

At 5am local time (9am GMT), Dorian was packing maximum sustained winds of 105miles, the NHC said, as it moved towards the north-northwest at 8mph.

Meanwhile, Freeport resident Yasmin Rigby said 'most of the island is still flooded' and it was 'still raining with gusty winds.'

'I am still getting calls from people calling for help,' Rigby said. 'I cannot move from my apartment. Thankfully we have sufficient supplies.'