Hurricane Dorian is now considered to be one of the most powerful Atlantic storms ever. Dorian has killed at least five people when it slammed into the Abaco Islands at Category 5 with 185mph winds. Now NOAA pilots known as hurricane hunters have released photographs showing the eerie calm of Hurricane Doran’s eye.
US Air Force pilots are frequently flying reconnaissance missions into Dorian in order to better understand the deadly storm as it continues path into the eastern US coast.
American meteorologist Garrett Black shared an incredible photo offering glimpse from inside the storm, simply captioned “The eye of #Dorian”.
And climatologist Dr Chelsea shared similar Dorian images on Twitter, captioned: “Pretty incredible stadium structure in the eye!”
The most recent update from the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) places Hurricane Dorian north of Grand Bahama, home to about 50,000 people.
READ MORE: Hurricane Dorian map update: What time will Florida be hit?
The storm has barely moved 12 miles (20km) in a day.
The NHC described Dorian as “stationary” with maximum sustained winds of 120mph (195kmh), marking it as a Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale.
But the NHC warned that the storm was still producing higher gusts and storm surges 10ft to 15ft (3m to 4.5m) above normal,
NOAA has advised residents to continue to shelter on Grand Bahama for the rest of the day.
READ MORE: Heartbreaking Hurricane Dorian footage shows woman beg for life
The winds at Dorian’s core were spinning so fast that the centre of the storm was collapsing on itself.
This caused the storm to expand and inflict carnage on a larger area.
Steve McAndrew, of the International Red Cross, told the BBC he had been involved in rescue operations for 20 years and could never recall a hurricane ever being listed as stationary.
Florida’s Palm Beach county is currently experiencing gusts of up to 60mph.
Eyewitnesses have painted a picture of serious and widespread flooding.
Some panicked families have reportedly fled to rooftops to escape rising floodwaters.
The Bahamas Press showed video of the Rand Memorial Hospital in Freeport under water.
The news site also relayed calls for help from residents trapped on roofs for hours.