Through smart planning, speed and considerable courage, the AP managed to be the only agency on the ground Sept. 1 as Hurricane Dorian, a powerful Category 5 storm, arrived and parked itself over the Bahamas for more than 24 hours dumping tons of water and packing sustained winds in excess of 185 MPH. Not even local broadcasters, including the government channel, were able to feed live images. Earlier, AP also provided edits and photos showing Bahamians in Freeport reinforcing windows, rushing to fill up their vehicles with petrol and stocking up on food and water. As the hurricane struck, the team of Alvarez, Espinosa and Aylen was on the ground. AP was live throughout the day and just before dawn to capture daybreak in the storm, all unmatched. We had strong night scenes, and AP was able to move to customers the first edited visuals taken from the dawn live shot. The exclusive visuals of the story led to more than a half million interactions on social media and more than 10,000 video downloads. Senior producer Chris Gillette and Caribbean News Director Michael Weissenstein in Havana were the wizards behind the curtain. They moved fast and were able to get AP people into Freeport on one of the last flights before the airport shut down. Others were late on deciding.