Hurricane Irene batters small islands of Bahamas

China Daily | Updated: 2011-08-26 08:03

A boy runs along the Sanchez Bridge over the Nigua River in San Cristobal, south of Santo Domingo, on Wednesday as winds and rain from Hurricane Irene pound the island of Hispaniola. The rain is causing rivers to overflow, and at least one woman has died in the flooding. Erika Santelices / Agence France-Presse

NASSAU, Bahamas - A large and powerful Hurricane Irene roared across the Bahamas archipelago on Wednesday, pummeling the country's smaller, less-populated islands while posing less of a threat to the capital, a major tourist destination with 200,000 residents.