Hurricane Dorian left “apocalyptic” devastation in its wake as it swept across the Bahamas.

Thousands of homes were destroyed or damaged, hospitals were crippled and a number of people were stranded on rooftops awaiting rescue after the small island nation was hit by the most powerful recorded storm in its history.

At least seven deaths were reported in the Bahamas, although relief workers warned this was likely to rise.

“It’s total devastation. It’s decimated. Apocalyptic,” said Lia Head-Rigby, who helps run a local hurricane relief group. “It’s not rebuilding something that was there; we have to start again.”

Ms Head-Rigby said her colleague in the hard-hit Abaco Islands told her there were “a lot more dead”, but she had no numbers.

"Huge damage" as record Hurricane Dorian hits Bahamas: In pictures Show all 15 1 /15 "Huge damage" as record Hurricane Dorian hits Bahamas: In pictures "Huge damage" as record Hurricane Dorian hits Bahamas: In pictures A road is flooded during the passing of Hurricane Dorian in Freeport, Grand Bahama. AP "Huge damage" as record Hurricane Dorian hits Bahamas: In pictures Hurricane Dorian's eye taken by Nasa astronaut Nick Hague, from aboard the International Space Station. The station orbits more than 200 miles above the Earth. Hurricane Dorian, which made landfall on the Bahamas as category 5 and now reclassified as category 4, is expected to continue on its projected path towards the Florida coast. Nasa/EPA "Huge damage" as record Hurricane Dorian hits Bahamas: In pictures Buildings damaged by Hurricane Dorian are swept by deep floodwater in the Abaco Islands in The Bahamas. Latrae Rahming "Huge damage" as record Hurricane Dorian hits Bahamas: In pictures Tropical Storm Dorian as it approached the Bahamas. NOAA/AFP/Getty "Huge damage" as record Hurricane Dorian hits Bahamas: In pictures Strong winds blow the tops of trees while whisking up water from the surface of a canal that leads to the sea in Freeport, Grand Bahama AP "Huge damage" as record Hurricane Dorian hits Bahamas: In pictures A woman walks in a flooded street after the effects of Hurricane Dorian arrived in Nassau, Bahamas. REUTERS "Huge damage" as record Hurricane Dorian hits Bahamas: In pictures Uprooted trees, fallen power lines and debris scatter a road as Hurricane Dorian sweeps through Marsh Harbour in The Bahamas Ramond A King via Reuters "Huge damage" as record Hurricane Dorian hits Bahamas: In pictures Buildings damaged by Hurricane Dorian are swept by deep floodwater in the Abaco Islands in The Bahamas Latrae Rahming "Huge damage" as record Hurricane Dorian hits Bahamas: In pictures A building is strewn with debris after its roof was torn off by Hurricane Dorian in the Abaco Islands in The Bahamas Latrae Rahming "Huge damage" as record Hurricane Dorian hits Bahamas: In pictures Uprooted trees, fallen power lines and debris scatter a road as Hurricane Dorian sweeps through Marsh Harbour in The Bahamas Ramond A King via Reuters "Huge damage" as record Hurricane Dorian hits Bahamas: In pictures Hurricane Dorian is pictured from a plane flying inside the eye of the storm Garrett Black/US Air Force "Huge damage" as record Hurricane Dorian hits Bahamas: In pictures Inmates from a Florida jail fill sandbags to hand out to residents ahead of Hurricane Dorian in Cocoa, Florida on September 1 EPA "Huge damage" as record Hurricane Dorian hits Bahamas: In pictures Residents stock up at Wal-Mart in preparation for Hurricane Dorian in Orlando, Florida Getty "Huge damage" as record Hurricane Dorian hits Bahamas: In pictures A shop is boarded-up ahead of Hurricane Dorian in Cocoa, Florida on September 1 Reuters "Huge damage" as record Hurricane Dorian hits Bahamas: In pictures Waves batter a pier in Marsh Harbour in The Bahamas on September 1e Mark Hall vie Reuters

Hubert Minnis, the country’s prime minister, said he expected more deaths.

“We are in the midst of one of the greatest national crises in our country’s history,” he told a press conference. “No effort or resources will be held back.”

Red Cross spokesperson Matthew Cochrane said more than 13,000 houses, about 45 per cent of the homes on Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama, were believed to be severely damaged or destroyed.

Hurricane Dorian pounds relentlessly at Bahamas

UN officials said more than 60,000 people on the hard-hit islands will need food. The Red Cross said some 62,000 will need clean drinking water.

“What we are hearing lends credence to the fact that this has been a catastrophic storm and a catastrophic impact,” Mr Cochrane said.

Rescuers used Jet Skis, boats and even a huge bulldozer to evacuate people from the storm’s aftermath across Grand Bahama. The bulldozer cradled adults and children in its digger as it churned through deep waters and carried them to safety.

Britain’s Royal Navy rushed aid to the Bahamas while five US coast guard helicopters ran nearly hourly flights to the stricken Abaco, flying at least 21 injured people to the capital’s main hospital.

Devastation after Hurricane Dorian hit the Abaco Islands in the Bahamas (Michelle Cove/Trans Island Airways/Reuters)

With telephones down across Abaco and Grand Bahama islands, residents posted lists of missing loved ones on social media.

A single Facebook post by media outlet Our News Bahamas seeking the names of missing people had 1,600 comments listing lost family members since it went live on Tuesday morning.

Food may be required for 14,500 people in the Abaco Islands and 45,700 people in Grand Bahama, the UN World Food Programme said in a statement.

More than two million people living along the coast in Florida, Georgia and North and South Carolina have been warned to evacuate.

Although the threat of a direct hit on Florida has all but evaporated, Dorian is expected to pass dangerously close to the other southern states later this week.

Even if landfall does not occur, the US National Hurricane Centre warned, the system is likely to cause storm surge and severe flooding.

A satellite image shows Hurricane Dorian churning towards the United States (NOAA/RAMMB/AFP/Getty) (NOAA/RAMMB /AFP/Getty Images)

“Don’t tough it out. Get out,” said US Federal Emergency Management Agency official Carlos Castillo.

Dorian was centred around 90 miles east of Daytona Beach, Florida, on Wednesday morning, and was moving north northwest at 8mph.

Hurricane-force winds extended up to 60 miles from its centre, while tropical storm-force winds could be felt up to 175 miles from the core.

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Dorian also left one person dead in its wake in Puerto Rico before it slammed into the Bahamas on Sunday.

The hurricane tied the record for the strongest Atlantic storm ever to hit land, matching the Labour Day hurricane that struck Florida’s Gulf Coast in 1935.