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In pictures: Hurricane Dorian batters US east coast after destroying 13,000 homes

The devastation caused by Hurricane Dorian when it struck the Bahamas with record gusts of up to 220mph has been captured in a series of new aerial images.

The storm has caused carnage on the Caribbean island, killing at least seven people and damaging or destroying more than 13,000 homes in Grand Bahama and Abaco.

Bahama's Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said: ‘We can expect more deaths to be recorded. This is just preliminary information.

‘Marsh Harbour has suffered, I would estimate, in excess of 60% damage to their homes.’

The weather system is now heading up the US east coast and millions of people have been warned to leave their homes in Florida.

On Sunday, Dorian’s maximum sustained winds reached 185mph, with gusts up to 220mph, tying the record for the most powerful Atlantic hurricane to make landfall.

By Monday afternoon, the storm’s top sustained winds had fallen to 145mph.

The Bahamas is a country made up of about 700 islands in the Atlantic Ocean and became part of the Commonwealth in 1973.