Hurricane Dorian, a Category 5 storm that devastated the island of Great Abaco in the Bahamas on Sunday, is slowly churning towards Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas, where it is expected to bring “life-threatening storm surge and devastating hurricane-force winds” starting Monday night after it moves over the northwestern Bahamas throughout Sunday evening.
The hurricane’s path crossed directly over Great Abaco, making landfall twice after it touched down in Elbow Cay, Abacos. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) has issued a hurricane warning for the northwestern Bahamas, where tropical-storm-force winds are expected over the weekend.
The storm reached the island on Sunday at about 2 PM EDT, bringing hurricane-force winds and a “life-threatening storm surge” of 18 to 23 feet, with “large and destructive waves,” according to the NHC and early reports. As Dorian traversed the island, the NHC warned residents not to exit shelter into the eye of the storm.
The hurricane’s path crossed directly over Great Abaco, making landfall twice after it touched down in Elbow Cay, Abacos. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) has issued a hurricane warning for the northwestern Bahamas, where tropical-storm-force winds are expected over the weekend.
The storm reached the island on Sunday at about 2 PM EDT, bringing hurricane-force winds and a “life-threatening storm surge” of 18 to 23 feet, with “large and destructive waves,” according to the NHC and early reports. As Dorian traversed the island, the NHC warned residents not to exit shelter into the eye of the storm.
Dorian is now projected to move towards Florida, nearing the state’s east coast late Monday. While the forecast cone is wider as the hurricane approaches the coast, Google’s Sunday morning projections no longer show landfall in Florida, veering north instead toward the coasts of Georgia and the Carolinas.
Both Florida and South Carolina have declared states of emergency, with the latter declaring on Saturday in the wake of the new hurricane trajectory. Palm Beach County in southern Florida also ordered a mandatory evacuation Sunday morning of residents in its Zones A and B.
The emergency state gives the governors the ability to mobilize the National Guard and state agency employees to prepare for the storm, as well as enact anti-price gouging laws and allow for the possibility of federal aid.
source: Reuters
