"Forty-three is the official count, many missing and this number is expected to grow significantly," Erica Wells Cox, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Hubert Minnis, told NBC News.

Dorian was a Category 5 hurricane -- the highest on the five-level wind scale -- when it slammed into the northern Bahamas on Sunday, leaving a trail of immense destruction.

According to UN relief officials, more than 70,000 people -- virtually the entire population of the islands of Grand Bahama and Abaco -- are in need of assistance after the storm reduced homes to matchsticks and destroyed people's livelihoods.

Hundreds -- perhaps thousands -- are missing and Bahamian officials have said the final toll could be "staggering."