'Catastrophic' Hurricane Dorian pounds north Bahamas

“Catastrophic” Category 5 Hurricane Dorian inched across the northern Bahamas early Monday, lashing the archipelago with 200 mph wind gusts and flooding the low-lying islands with a storm surge of up to 23 feet above normal.Parts of Grand Bahama Island were being "lashed incessantly" by destructive hurricane-force winds, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said early Monday.When the hurricane made landfall on neighboring Great Abaco Island on Sunday at 2 p.m., Dorian's maximum sustained winds were 185 mph — an Atlantic hurricane record matched only by a storm that struck the Florida Keys in 1935.Although top sustained wind speeds have decreased to 165 mph early Monday, the hurricane center still called it "a life-threatening situation."Download the NBC News app for updates on Hurricane Dorian"Residents on Grand Bahama Island should not leave their shelter when the eye passes over," it warned early Monday.The National Hurricane Center said wind gusts of up to 200 mph and storm surge up to 23 feet above normal tide levels will continue over Grand Bahama Island during most of the day on Monday, "causing extreme destruction on the island."There was little information coming from the affected islands.Most people went to shelters as the storm approached, with hotels shutting down and residents boarding up their homes.Videos and photos shot by residents of Great Abaco Island and obtained by NBC News showed relentless gusts of wind toppling trees and structural damage that included collapsed roofs.“This is probably the saddest and worst day for me to address the Bahamian people,” said Prime Minister of The Bahamas Hubert Minnis in a tweet after briefing the nation Sunday night.