Two more people are confirmed dead in the Bahamas as Hurricane Dorian continued to lash the Caribbean nation Tuesday evening — and officials expect that number to increase in the days ahead, the prime minister said.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday night, Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis said two people who were among 25 airlifted from the island of Abaco to the more populous island New Providence were pronounced dead.

Minnis added that the number of deaths will rise as more information becomes available, the Nassau Guardian reported.

“I want to inform the Bahamian population that we can expect more deaths to be recorded. This is just preliminary information,” he said.

Minnis added that Abaco is severely flooded and about 60% of the homes in the main harbor of the island have been destroyed.

“The international airport in Abaco is underwater. The runway is completely flooded. The area around the airport now looks like a lake,” Minnis said.

Hurricane Dorian is inching toward Florida after it moved north of the Bahamas on Tuesday night. It weakened slightly to a Category 2 storm.

With Wires