NASSAU, Bahamas (CMC)— Prime Minister Phillip Davis has announced the closure of schools on some islands in the Bahamas as he urged residents to be prepared for tropical storm conditions from Hurricane Milton which continues to strengthen on its way to the western coast of Florida in the United States.

In a nationwide broadcast, Davis said that the Meteorological Office has upgraded the status for islands in the Northern Bahamas from a tropical storm watch to a tropical storm warning as the Category 4 hurricane is expected to hit Florida on Wednesday.

“This means that tropical storm conditions are expected within the next 36 hours on the islands of Abaco, Bimini and Grand Bahama, and the surrounding cays. While the threat is not as significant as that of the hurricane threat posed to our neighbours in Florida, we still need to take it seriously,” Davis said.

He said because of the heavy flooding which is expected to result from this, after consultation with the minister of education, he is announcing that all schools on those islands will be closed until Friday, for in-person teaching.

“We do not want our young people having to navigate large areas of flooding while getting to and from school,” he explained.

Davis said tropical storms are nothing new for the Bahamas given that “year after year we are told how we must prepare, and ready ourselves and our homes to keep us all safe”.

“But we know how quickly things can change. This storm in particular, has intensified extremely rapidly. And so, within the next 24 hours, it is important that you do all that you can to stay safe,” he said, adding that the Disaster Risk Management Authority has issued detailed guidance on how best to prepare.

“Please don’t wait. If you haven’t already done so, start preparing immediately,” Davis said.

“These islands (Abaco, Bimini and Grand Bahama) have already experienced excessive rainfall since Sunday from another storm system. And so the ground is already saturated with water. Heavy rainfall has also been experienced on other islands in recent days, namely on Andros, The Berry Islands, New Providence and Eleuthera. And now the rainfall from Hurricane Milton is expected to intensify, especially on Wednesday,” Davis added.

The prime minister said that the Met Office is also advising that from noon on Wednesday, heavy rainfall is expected.

He further advised that the Broadcast Alert System has already been activated on all mobile phones in the country and is urging everyone to “please pay attention to the alerts and follow the advice given”.

Davis said that for the past several months, he has held monthly meetings with the Disaster Risk Management Team and compared to what was in the past, the team has greatly enhanced the degree of national preparedness.