DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. — As Hurricane Dorian continues its assault on the islands of the Bahamas, people like Alexis Reeves can't help but feel helpless.
"It hurts," she told 11Alive. "There is no words."
Reeves is a first generation American whose family history runs deep on the island nation with roots in Grand Bahama, Nassau, Providence and Eleuthera.
But back here in Douglasville, Reeves said seeing the monster storm - which slammed into the island of Abaco on Sunday at noon as a catastrophic category 5 storm - ravage her country has left her feeling hopeless.
"It hurts so much to know I can't do anything," she said.
Reeves said she has tried to remain in contact with her family throughout the Bahamas, but it's been tough because many of the people there rely on WiFi to communicate instead of long distance calling because of the expense. But she said Dorian has wiped out much of the ability to communicate because of widespread outages that have cut off internet connection. As such, Reeves said there are still some family and friends she hasn't heard from.
"That's my biggest concern," she said.
Reeves, who is herself a victim of Hurricane Andrew in 1992, said she's been looking at the images coming out of the Bahamas, which have astounded her.
"To know that the speed is much higher, and the category - it honestly, when I looked at it on TV, it just looks like the devil," she described. "It was red - the eye. It just ... my heart was... my heart was in pain for them."
She said before she lost touch with family, they were sending her photos and videos from the island.
"The videos is just ... the winds, the trees. It's just horrible. I can't imagine being there. They have nowhere to go," Reeves listed. "I saw boats turned all the way over ... roofs are shattered, houses are just completely gone, and all you see is water. Where I've known land to be, I see water. And just debris everywhere."
Photos: Atlanta woman witnesses destruction of the Bahamas from afar
Family told her that Abaco is completely destroyed, and it will likely going to take them over five years to rebuild the island. But she said the effects of Dorian will likely be felt for much longer.
"To know that they don't have as many resources as the main island, I can't imagine what people are going through," Reeves said.
"It's very heartbreaking because a lot of the islands depend on tourism," she added. "It's heartbreaking to know that their income based off of tourism and if that's gone, I just feel pain that at how my family and my people will survive. Because nobody is going to want to come to an island that was just hit by a hurricane."
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While Dorian was eventually downgraded to a category 4 storm, it's still inching along the Grand Bahama Island at a glacial 1 mph. And though it's track is expected to take the storm on toward the East Coast of the United States, Reeves asked for people to remember the people of the Bahamas.
"I just ask for everyone to be in prayer for my country and my family," she asked.