UPDATE: Four reported dead in Grand Bahama tornadoes
According to the Bahamas Press and Y98 radio, four people were killed during today's storms - Micheal Young, Clever Lowe, Shawn Saunders and Glen Bodie, all workers at the Freeport Container Port. They also reported pandemonium at the Rand Memorial Hospital as injured people are brought to the emergency room.

 

FREEPORT, Grand Bahama – The Met Office is gathering information on tornado activity in Grand Bahama and warned that more bad weather is on the way. Public schools on the island have been closed and parents asked to collect their children early.

Chief Met Officer at Nassau International Airport, Arnold King, said their office had received reports of tornadoes and thunderstorms.

King said the bad weather is being caused by a cold front coming into Grand Bahama and clashing with the warmer air there. He said that the mixing hot and cold air would cause more bad weather as the system gets closer.

The Department of Meteorology had warned of severe weather in Grand Bahama, including thunderstorms, heavy rain, lighting as well as funnel clouds that might become water spouts or hurricanes.

The weather will also affect New Providence later this evening although King said it would probably be milder by the time it got to the capital.

Speaking to Bahamas Local at 2.40pm, a worker at the Grand Bahama Shipyard said the company was preparing for more bad weather. It was spraying when he gave the interview.

The worker said a man was killed when the tornado caused several cranes to collapse at the nearby Freeport Container Port, crushing a mechanic who was working on one of the cranes and sending another into the water. He said rescuers had not yet found the man who was tossed in the water.

The Tribune reported that two suspected tornadoes struck southern Grand Bahama around 1pm. They received reports of damage at Island Seas Resort in Willams Town and damage in Fortune Bay and Port Lucaya.