On September 1, 2019, Hurricane Dorian made landfall on Elbow Cay in the Bahamas at 16:40 UTC with sustained winds of 185 mph (295 km/h), wind gusts up to 225 mph (360 km/h), and a central pressure of 910 mb, tying Dorian with the 1935 Labor Day hurricane for the strongest sustained winds observed in a landfall in the Atlantic Basin. Shortly thereafter, Dorian made a second landfall in the Bahamas at Marsh Harbour on Great Abaco Island before continuing westward across Grand Bahama Island. After nearly two days pummeling Grand Bahama Island, setting records for the longest duration over land at a Category 5 intensity, Dorian approached the US in a weakened state with its most notable impacts confined to flooding and tornadoes in the Carolinas. The devastation to the Bahamas is staggering and driven in large part by storm surge, in excess of an estimated 20 feet above mean sea level in some locations. Preliminary losses (insured and uninsured) are estimated at $7B, not yet accounting for infrastructure losses. Rapid assessments suggest that more than 13,000 houses, or about 45% of the homes in Grand Bahama and Abaco, were likely severely damaged or destroyed. Significant impacts to healthcare facilities, airports, roadways and power infrastructure in Grand Bahama and Abaco islands have also been extensively documented. While in no way diminishing Dorian’s impact on the Carolinas, the careful examination of properties with little to no damage in this record-breaking event is an important validation of design and construction practices. This Preliminary Virtual Reconnaissance Report (PVRR) represents StEER’s first step in the process of learning from this disaster by (1) providing an overview of Hurricane Dorian’s impact on the built environment, including the effects of its hurricane-force winds, coastal storm surge and cyclone-induced tornadoes, (2) overviewing the regulatory environment and construction practices in the Bahamas, (3) summarizing the preliminary reports of damage to a range of building and infrastructure classes, (4) establishing current conditions in the Bahamas with respect to access and services, and (5) providing recommendations to inform the continued study of this event.