McLEAN’S TOWN CAY, Bahamas (AP) — Hurricane Dorian shut down most major resorts in The Bahamas and forced authorities to evacuate much of the northern shore and low-lying islands Saturday, as the fierce category 4 storm prepared to unleash torrents of rain but was projected to spin farther away from the coast of the south-east US next week.

Forecasters expect Dorian, which packed 150 mph (240 kph) winds, to hit the northwestern part of the Bahamas on Sunday before curving upward. The storm’s slow march north could spare a direct hit in the US but still threatens Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas, with powerful winds and rising ocean water that causes potentially deadly flooding.

In The Bahamas, any remaining tourists were sent to government shelters in schools, churches and other buildings offering protection from the storm.

“My home is all battened up, and I’m preparing right now to leave in a couple of minutes…We’re not taking no chances,” said Margaret Bassett, 55, a ferry boat driver for the Deep Water Cay resort who chose to leave her home. “They said evacuate, you have to evacuate. It’s for the best interests of the people.”

Over two or three days the hurricane could dump as much as 4 feet (1 metre) of rain, unleash high winds, and whip up an abnormal rise in sea level called storm surge, according to private meteorologist Ryan Maue and some of the most reliable computer models.

Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Minnis warned in a nationally televised briefing that, “Hurricane Dorian is a devastating, dangerous storm approaching our islands.”

Small skiffs rented by Bahamas authorities ran back and forth between outlying fishing communities and McLean’s Town, a settlement of a few dozen homes on the eastern end of Grand Bahama, about 150 miles (240 kilometres) from Florida’s Atlantic coast.

Most were coming from Sweeting Cay, a fishing town of a few hundred people that sits about 5 feet (1.5 metres) above sea level and was expected to be left completely underwater by storm surge.

Still, a few fishermen planned to ride it out, which could put them in extreme danger.

“Hoping for the best, that the storm passes and everybody is safe until we return home,” fisherman Tyrone Mitchell said. “All the ladies and children evacuated, and we have about six or seven men that (will) ride out the storm.”

The Bahamas on average faces a direct hit from a hurricane every four years. One category 5 hurricane and seven category 4 hurricanes have struck The Bahamas since storms were first recorded in 1851.

Construction codes require homes to have metal reinforcements for roof beams to withstand winds into the upper limits of a category 4 hurricane, and compliance is generally tight for residents who can afford it. Poorer communities typically have wooden homes and are generally lower-lying, placing them at tremendous risk.

After walloping the islands, forecasters said the ever-strengthening Dorian was expected to dance up the south-east coastline, staying just off the shores of Florida and Georgia on Tuesday and Wednesday before skirting South Carolina and North Carolina on Thursday.