The storm has been upgraded to category 4 status (the second highest) and could hit the US east coast on Sunday.

The US National Hurricane Centre has said it was now an "extremely dangerous" storm, the BBC reported.

So far there have been no reported casualties in the Bahamas.

"We do not know the impact of 130mph on those areas," Bahamas Prime Minister Perry Christie said. "We know it’s a horrific kind of experience."

The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism (BMOT) has fully activated its emergency coordinating committee in preparation for Hurricane Joaquin.

“We are monitoring and disseminating information as soon as we get it and we are making sure that our islands in the south have pertinent information and similarly that they are passing the information to us so we can ensure that at all times contact and communication is taking place,” Director General in the Ministry of Tourism Joy Jibrilu said.