Bahamas braces for hit as Hurricane Dorian roars toward US

The sounds of hammers banging into plywood and cash registers dinging echoed across the Bahamas on Friday as the archipelago that lies just southeast of Florida rushed to prepare for Hurricane Dorian , which threatened to turn into a powerful Category 4 storm.

The storm is expected to approach the northwest Bahamas on Saturday and then move over or near that region on Sunday.

"Do not be foolish and try to brave out this hurricane," Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said in a news conference. "The price you may pay for not evacuating is your life."

Baltimore tourists Loren Fantasia, left, and her mother, swing on the beach before the arrival of Hurricane Dorian, in Freeport, Bahamas, Friday, Aug. 30, 2019. Forecasters said the hurricane is expected to keep on strengthening and become a Category 3 later in the day. (AP PhotoTim Aylen)

At 2 p.m. EDT on Friday, Dorian was located 445 miles (715 kilometers) east of the northwest Bahamas and about 625 miles (1,005 kilometers) east of West Palm Beach in Florida. It was a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph (185 kph) and was moving northwest at 10 mph (17 kph).

A hurricane watch was in effect for northwestern Bahamas as officials closed schools and government offices.

Officials said that between 2,000 to 3,000 people who live in tiny cays in The Abaco Islands need to evacuate and seek higher ground.

People shop for supplies before the arrival of Hurricane Dorian, in Freeport, Bahamas, Friday, Aug. 30, 2019. Forecasters say the hurricane is expected to keep on strengthening and become a Category 3 later in the day. (AP PhotoTim Aylen)

"I'm really worried," said Kevin Adderley, a 48-year-old business owner who was securing his mechanic shop in the city of Freeport in Grand Bahama Island. "I'm going to bunker down home with my kids."

Supplies like canned food and bottled water were quickly disappearing as long lines formed at gas stations and grocery stores on Friday.

"The food store is very packed," said 47-year-old Gina Davis as she pushed her grocery cart through the aisle. "I'm very concerned because it's going to be a Category 4 storm. ... We pray to God that it don't do us bad."

People line up to buy water at a store before the arrival of Hurricane Dorian, in Freeport, Bahamas, Friday, Aug. 30, 2019. Forecasters said the hurricane is expected to keep on strengthening and become a Category 3 later in the day. (AP PhotoRamon Espinosa)

Stephen Russell, director of the island's National Emergency Management Agency, said major storms have hit the Bahamas for three consecutive years: Hurricane Joaquin in 2015, Matthew in 2016 and Irma in 2017, causing an estimated $80 million in damage.

"We are a resilient nation," he said in a statement.

Dánica Coto contributed to this report from San Juan, Puerto Rico

A Ukrainian drone strike killed one person and wounded three others in the Russian city of Voronezh, local officials said Sunday.

A young woman died overnight in a hospital intensive care unit after debris from a drone fell on a house during the attack on Saturday, regional Gov. Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.

Three other people were wounded and more than 10 apartment buildings, private houses and a high school were damaged, he said, adding that air defenses shot down 17 drones over Voronezh. The city is home to just over 1 million people and lies some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

The attack came the day after Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight into Friday, killing at least four people in the capital Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials.

For only the second time in the nearly four-year war, Russia used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in a clear warning to Kyiv and NATO.

The intense barrage and the launch of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile followed reports of major progress in talks between Ukraine and its allies on how to defend the country from further aggression by Moscow if a U.S.-led peace deal is struck.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday in his nightly address that Ukrainian negotiators “continue to communicate with the American side.”

Chief negotiator Rustem Umerov was in contact with U.S. partners Saturday, he said.

Separately, Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia targeted Ukraine with 154 drones overnight into Sunday and 125 were shot down.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

This photo provided by the Ukrainian Security Service on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, shows a fragment believed to be a part of a Russian Oreshnik intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile that hit the Lviv region. (Ukrainian Security Service via AP)

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, second left, listens to British Defense Secretary John Healey during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)