Dorian Storms up East Coast

(September 4, 2019) – Hurricane Dorian, a Category 2 storm, was expected to slowly weaken over the next few days while remaining a powerful hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center. Dorian brought wind gusts and heavy rain to Florida today as the storm slowly moved north up the East Coast.

In north Florida, mandatory evacuations were in place for eight counties, but not everyone listened, and some people went to the beach. Emergency officials were concerned about storm surge, especially in beachfront communities.

While Florida didn’t get the brunt of the storm, North Carolina and South Carolina were bracing for a direct hit. Dorian could still potentially make landfall tomorrow or the next day.

Dorian ravaged Abaco Island and Grand Bahama with 30 inches of rain. The hurricane clobbered the Bahamas for 48 hours. Thousands of homes are believed to be damaged or destroyed and tens of thousands don’t have drinking water. Parts of the nation of low-lying islands were in ruins.

The extent of Dorian’s destruction across the northern Bahamas was immense. On Abaco Island, the damage stretches for miles. Entire neighborhoods were flattened. The Red Cross said more than 13,000 homes, nearly half the number on those two islands, were damaged or destroyed.

Shipping containers and boats were hurled inland. Some airports looked like lakes. “We are in the midst of one of the greatest national crisis in our country’s history,” Bahamian Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said.

Spared from the wrath of Hurricane Dorian, people in South Florida are donating water, food and household supplies in a relief effort spearheaded by descendants of some of Miami’s earliest settlers from the Bahamas.

As Dorian, a Category 2 storm, was making its way up the East Coast, the U.S. Navy ordered ships based on Virginia’s coast to head out to sea to avoid the hurricane. As of 5 p.m. EDT today, Dorian had maximum sustained winds of 110 mph, the National Hurricane Center said. Its core was some 150 miles south of Charleston, South Carolina, and about 275 miles south-southwest of Wilmington, North Carolina.

Dorian was moving north-northwest at 8 mph. Hurricane-force winds extended outward up to 70 miles from its center and tropical storm-force winds extended outward up to 195 miles.