EXUMAS, Bahamas – Hurricane Matthew slammed into the Bahamas on Thursday causing downed trees and power lines, authorities said.
Bahama's prime minister, Perry Christie, asked residents to prepare for the worst.
Sam Ragone Jr., of Port Saint Lucie, said he was stranded in Nassau with his wife after their flight was canceled earlier in the day.
Ragone said he is worried about his home, but doesn't want to panic.
"You have to stay positive, because this could get quite scary and depressing if you allow it to," he said.
On Thursday, locals in Great Exuma assessed the damage to their properties, but said they expected the storm to be much worse.
"From how it sounded, I expected to see more roof damage and even building damage, so if you can have a storm and be happy, I'm happy with how it treated Exuma this time," one woman said.
Local 10 News reporter Terrell Forney said Great Exuma had clearer skies and calmer water on Thursday as the storm continued to pose problems for other parts of the Bahamas.
However some people in Great Exuma who were trying to get to Little Exuma Thursday had problems getting there as the only road to get there was flooded. Some areas of the road had waist-deep water and some locals chose to hike through it to get across.
Workers fed Exuma's swimming pigs on Tuesday before the storm hit. They said all of the pigs were just fine after the storm.
Shoppers looked for bread and powdered milk faced empty shelves at grocery stores in George Town before the storm.
Local 10 News reporter Amy Viteri met a couple in Nassau Thursday who had just gotten married on the island the day before.
"We stayed up all night with our family and spent our wedding night with the entire hotel," Natashja Udzella said.
"(It was a) big slumber party for the first night being married," Matthew Lamberti said.
West Side National Park was closed on Thursday and classes at the College of The Bahamas, The Assemblies of God Bible College and schools in Nassau were canceled until further notice.
The U.S. issued a travel warning, cruise ships changed their itinerary and airlines canceled several flights.
The Bahamas Department of Meteorology has issued an "all clear" for islands in the Southeast Bahamas.
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