MIAMI – Hurricane Dorian continues its catastrophic day-long halt over the northwest Bahamas. It has flooded the islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama with walls of water that lapped into the second floors of buildings, trapped people in attics and drowned the Grand Bahama airport under 6 feet of water. At least five people have died.

Dorian has weakened to a Category 3 hurricane but continues to batter the Bahamas. The National Hurricane Center says Dorian remains almost at a standstill.

At 2:00 a.m. EDT Tuesday, the ferocious storm’s center was about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northeast of Freeport Grand Bahama Island. It has barely budged from that position since Monday afternoon.

But its wind speeds lessened slightly to 120 mph (193 kph) with higher gusts. That was down from 130 mph (209 kph) Monday evening.

The hurricane is about 100 miles (160 kilometers) east of West Palm Beach, Florida.

The National Hurricane center said Dorian is expected to move “dangerously close” to the Florida east coast late Tuesday through Wednesday evening and then move north to coastal Georgia and South Carolina on Wednesday night and Thursday.

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of people in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina have been ordered to evacuate before the storm rolls up the Eastern Seaboard.