Residents in Nassau, capital of the Bahamas, yesterday counted themselves fortunate to duck a direct hit from Hurricane Dorian, the first major storm of the season.

Guilden Gilbert, a Bermudian, said the area had seen “very heavy rains, thunderstorms and moderate winds; there has been some flooding”.

He added: “Our concern is with the Abacos and Grand Bahama, where there has been devastation.”

Dorian struck the northerly islands of the archipelago over the weekend as a Category 5, the strongest on the measurement scale.

The storm dropped to a Category 4 as it slowed to a westward crawl early yesterday across Grand Bahama.

It was forecast to approach the Florida coast tomorrow before curving north.

September is the peak month of hurricane season, and three other low-pressure disturbances were being tracked yesterday by the National Hurricane Centre.

The closest to Bermuda was a trough south-southeast of the island with potential to build into a tropical depression.

The system was tracking north last night, but the Bermuda Weather Service said high pressure west of the island would slowly nudge the pocket of thunderstorms eastward.

Eric Drewitz, a BWS meteorologist, said the island could expect “scattered to widespread showers with isolated thunderstorms” later today and overnight.

He added: “Conditions gradually improve on Wednesday as showers and thunderstorms taper off in the morning as the transient high slowly moves over Bermuda.”