28 photos show people in the Caribbean preparing for Dorian as the hurricane heads for Puerto Rico

• Florida and the Bahamas are bracing for Hurricane Dorian.
• Puerto Rico, Barbados, and St. Lucia have already experienced the hurricane’s high winds and heavy rainfall. Trees have been battered and power has been lost.
• Across the islands, and now in the US, fuel, food, and water are all being stockpiled, while schools and offices have closed.
• Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.

People are hunkering down as Hurricane Dorian crosses the Atlantic Ocean.

In preparation, people have stockpiled fuel, food, and water. Schools and offices have closed. Businesses have been boarded up. Some of the more brave souls made the most of Dorian and even went surfing.

Puerto Rico, Barbados, St. Lucia, and the Virgin Islands have already been battered by the hurricane. Puerto Rico was particularly concerned after the devastation it experienced from Hurricane Maria in 2017. Forecasters warned high winds and heavy rainfall could cause landslides, flooding and loss of power. But overall it wasn’t too badly affected.

Forecasters also went back and forth about whether the fourth named storm of 2019 would become a hurricane before it officially became a Category 1 on Wednesday. Now the storm is turning its eye on the Bahamas and Florida.

Barbados' Prime Minister Mia Mottley, Puerto Rico's Gov. Wanda Vazquez Garced, and Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis have warned their citizens to get ready, and take care.

Here are photos showing people preparing for, and surviving, Hurricane Dorian.

Barbados' Prime Minister Mia Mottley might be smiling in this photo, but on Sunday she warned her people to stay indoors, and ordered schools and offices to shut down. In a blunt televised speech, she told her country of 285,000: "When you're dead, you're dead. Stay inside and get some rest."

Source: AP

On Sunday, Barbados prepared for the hurricane by piling sand on beaches to protect the waterfront and stop flooding. Diggers also cleared drains in preparation for heavy rainfall. Forecasts predict Barbados could get up to 8 inches of rain.

Sources: Business Insider, The New York Times

People listened to Mottley's advice. In preparation, motorists waited in long lines to fill their cars with fuel.

People also flocked to supermarkets for supplies before Dorian hit. Here's a full supermarket in Bridgetown, Barbados.

Water is the most common purchase. In previous storms, officials have cut off power and utilities, so a decent supply of drinking water is essential.

Source: Business Insider

On Tuesday night, Dorian passed over Barbados. Here a man braves the elements on his bicycle.

Another man walks to the end of the pier, once the worst of the storm had passed.

There was some damage. Parts of the island lost power, and volunteers had to clear some trees that were blocking roads.

Source: WTOP

Dorian also hit St. Lucia, an island of about 180,000 people. On Monday the government ordered everything on the island to shut down. The National Hurricane Center also issued it with tropical storm warning. One hotel owner told AP that his establishment was ready and never waited for the formal announcement. "We're always prepared no matter what," he said.

Source: Business Insider, The Guardian

The National Hurricane Center lifted the tropical storm warning on Tuesday night. Other than heavy winds and rainfall battering the island, filling some boats with water, it wasn't too badly hit by the tropical storm.

Sources: CBS, USA Today

In Puerto Rico on Monday, Gov. Wanda Vázquez Garced declared a state of emergency. Forecasters expect Dorian will hit the island by Wednesday, bringing up to 4 inches of rainfall.

People were stocking up in Puerto Rico, too. Some parts of the island still haven't recovered from Hurricane Maria, which devastated the US commonwealth two years ago.

Source: Al Jazeera

By Tuesday, the shelves were already empty in at least one grocery store — an unfortunate sign the territory knows how destructive these storms can be.

Source: Business Insider

On Tuesday morning, the National Weather Service issued a tropical storm watch for Puerto Rico. This means a tropical storm is expected to hit within 36 hours. Here, a boat races to dock on Monday night.

Source: CNN

Some people have removed their boats from the water altogether ...

... while others secured them to mangroves.

Garced said 360 shelters would be ready for people who didn't have proper roofs. Roofing is a big problem in Puerto Rico, since about 30,000 homes still use blue tarps for roofs, after a slow recovery from the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria.

Sources: CNN, Business Insider

In preparation, emergency management crews also visited high flood risk areas before Dorian reached the island.

Residents and business owners did their best to protect their buildings, as they prepared for Dorian. Here store employees in Humacao covered the entrance to their shop with metal shutters.

And here two men cut up plywood to cover windows at a beachfront restaurant.

But even after boarding the windows up, there isn't much space between buildings and the sea.

There was at least one benefit from the approaching storm. Some adventurous people were making the most of Dorian by surfing on the swells the hurricane caused, even as it loomed.

And it certainly wasn't just one brave soul.

On Wednesday, Dorian hit Puerto Rico, bringing heavy rains and strong winds, but it didn't directly hit the island. It did however hit Vieques and Culebra, two of Puerto Rico's islands, with more force, causing flooding and power outages.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, CBS News

The Dominican Republic is also preparing for Dorian. On Tuesday, the government announced it had found 3,000 buildings that could be converted into shelters, which could hold up to 800,000 people. Dorian's expected to hit Hispaniola, the island the DR shares with Haiti, after Puerto Rico.

Source: Reuters

A lot of food rations were prepared for residents.

On Wednesday a state of emergency was declared for Florida. Dorian is expected to hit the state late on Sunday or early Monday morning, as a category three storm. People have already begun preparing. In Orlando, dozens were filling sandbags to help with flooding.

Source: CBS News

Dorian could douse Florida with up to 8 inches of rain, which could cause flash flooding. Like the Caribbean islands, people in Florida are already stockpiling fresh water. And they're waiting to see what Dorian does next.

Source: Insider