Dorian Hurricane Tracker – The Latest Update

Hurricane Dorian Update…as of Friday, September 6th, 2019, RogueValleyMagazine.com

HURRICANE DORIAN   Final Update  Friday, Sept. 6th

Dorian hits North Carolina hard, wind, power outages, and destruction in the millions of dollars.

Hurricane Dorian flooded homes and knocked out power Friday in North Carolina as the storm concluded a week-long tear along the Southeast coastline.

Ocracoke Island, a barrier island on North Carolina’s Outer Banks near where Dorian made landfall Friday morning, endured what residents have called catastrophic flooding, Gov. Roy Cooper said late Friday. About 800 people stayed on the island to ride out the storm despite an evacuation order.:00 / 1:17

“The hurricane left behind destruction, where storm surge inundated Ocracoke Island,” Mr. Cooper said during a press conference. Many homes and buildings on the island were still underwater hours after the storm blew by, he said.

Helicopters will airlift food and water to the island and get evacuees out, the governor said. A search and rescue team was on the way.

The swipe at the Outer Banks was a parting shot from a storm that failed to cause the widespread damage U.S. authorities feared after it laid waste to much of the Bahamas.

Dorian hovered over the Bahamas as a Category 5 storm, demolishing towns and leaving at least 43 people dead, according to Xavier Knowles, public-relations officer for the Ministry of Health.

The states of Florida and North Carolina have reported four deaths, all involving men who died getting ready for the hurricane.

Dorian by late Friday was a weakened Category 1 hurricane, with sustained winds nearing 90 miles an hour, moving away from the coast at about 24 miles an hour, the hurricane center said.

About 190,000 power customers in the Carolinas and Virginia were still offline as the storm headed out to sea, as of late Friday, according to poweroutages.us, which tracks outage reports from utilities.

Jill Gunter, who owns the Sand Dollar Motel on Ocracoke Island with her husband Rick, said about 4 feet of water had flooded the first floor, including the suite where they live.

“Our home is gone, the whole bottom level,” said Ms. Gunter, 62 years old. “We’re just like numb.”

Despite the evacuation order, she said they didn’t evacuate because they feared not being able to quickly get back to start cleanup work. “We’ll get crews in here and try to get everything cleaned up and hopefully we will rebuild,” she said.

Hurricane Dorian Update, Thursday, Sept. 5th

  • Hurricane Dorian has regained strength, becoming a Category 3 storm again with 115 mph sustained winds.
  • Hurricane conditions are expected along parts of the South Carolina coast Thursday morning and along the North Carolina coast later in the day.
  • As of 2 a.m. Thursday, the storm’s core was about 105 miles south-southeast of Charleston, South Carolina and 220 miles south-southwest of Wilmington, North Carolina.
  • The National Hurricane Center says “life-threatening” storm surges and damaging winds are possible over the next two days “along a large portion of the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic coasts.”
  • The hurricane decimated parts of the Bahamas for 48 hours, leaving at least 20 people dead. Intense rescue and relief efforts were underway .

Hurricane Dorian is again a Category 3 storm as it moved slowly up the U.S. Southeast coast and approached North and South Carolina.  It brought strong wind gusts and heavy rain to Florida Wednesday after leaving at least 20 dead in the Bahamas and parts of that nation of low-lying islands in ruins.

Although Florida dodged the brunt of the storm, North and South Carolina were bracing for its impact. Dorian still has the potential to make landfall Thursday or Friday, the National Hurricane Center said.

“Life-threatening” storm surges and damaging winds are possible over the next two days “along a large portion of the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic coasts,” the center said.

Forecasters issued a hurricane warning Wednesday for northern Georgia up through southern Virginia. Millions were told to evacuate.

As of 2 a.m. EDT Thursday, Dorian had maximum sustained winds of 115 mph, the hurricane center said. Its core was approximately 105 miles south-southeast of Charleston, South Carolina, and 220 miles south-southwest of Wilmington, North Carolina and it was moving north at 7 mph.

Hurricane-force winds extended outward up to 60 miles from the center and tropical storm-force winds extended outward up to 195 miles.

The Carolinas brace for Doria’s wrath

The National Hurricane Center says Hurricane Doria could bring “damaging winds and life-threatening storm surges along a large portion of the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic coasts” Thursday and Friday.

The center said early Thursday that Doria’s core will keep approaching the South Carolina coast Thursday morning, move near or over it later in the day and then slide near or over the North Carolina coast Thursday night and Friday.

Some fluctuations in intensity are expected Thursday “followed by slow weakening through Saturday,” the center said.

Tropical storm conditions were already being felt along parts of the Georgia and South Carolina coastline early Thursday.

Tuesday, Sept. 3 Update

Hurricane Dorian, which was a Category 5 storm for more than 24 hours before being downgraded to Category 4 late Labor Day Monday morning, is the strongest hurricane on modern record to hit the Bahamas.

Sustained winds, which had reached 185 miles an hour Sunday, decreased to 150 miles an hour Monday, the hurricane center said.

Dorian hovered over the northwestern Bahamas Monday, killing at least five people, wiping out thousands of homes, forcing many into a makeshift shelter and leaving an entire island without power. The powerful storm was expected to near Florida late Tuesday.

The storm was “showing essentially no motion” Monday afternoon, prolonging the battering of the Bahamas, the National Hurricane Center said. It made landfall in Grand Bahama Island Sunday night after tearing through the Abaco Islands.

Floridians prepare for Dorian.

The storm is forecast to approach dangerously close to Florida late Tuesday through Wednesday, and then turn north, skirting the coast and coming perilously near Georgia and South Carolina Wednesday night and Thursday.

Dorian passes through the Bahamas.

Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said Monday that the Royal Bahamas Police Force had confirmed five deaths in Abaco. “Teams will go to Abaco as soon as possible for a full and proper assessment and identification,” he said at a news conference Monday, adding that initial reports from the Abaco Islands are that “devastation is unprecedented and extensive.”

“We know that there are a number of people in Grand Bahama who are in serious distress,” Mr. Minnis said. “I strongly urge the residents of Grand Bahama to remain indoors and be as safe as possible until the all clear is given.”

No one knows when Dorian will make landfall in Florida, but federal forecasters warned that “only a small deviation of the track toward the west would bring the core of the hurricane onshore,” and that a life-threatening storm surge and hurricane-force winds would extend far from the center, regardless of where it was positioned.

Dorian damage in the Bahamas. Five are dead.

As many as 13,000 homes may have been severely damaged or destroyed, leaving many people without shelter, according to an initial assessment by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. In the Abaco Islands, extensive flooding likely contaminated wells with saltwater, the organization said. About 350,000 people live in the Bahamas, which consists of many islands, according to its 2010 census.

After lashing the Abaco Islands, the storm made landfall in Grand Bahama Island Sunday night and then slowed to a snail’s pace Monday, prolonging the battering, the National Hurricane Center said. The storm is forecast to approach close to Florida late Monday night and turn north, skirting the coast and coming near the Georgia and South Carolina coasts Wednesday night and Thursday.

Category 4 is a storm with wind speeds of 130 to 156 miles an hour. Category 5 is defined as having wind speeds of 157 miles an hour or faster. Any storm from Category 3 up is considered a major hurricane.

Though forecasters said Monday the hurricane isn’t projected to make landfall in Florida, “only a slight deviation to the left of the official forecast track would bring the core of Dorian near or over the Florida east coast.

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