As many as 13,000 homes have been severely damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas, according to recent reports.
Residents also continue to face dangerous flooding, gale-force winds, and downpours of up to 30 inches of rain.
“Despite its downgrade, Dorian is still a powerful hurricane and will remain so in the coming days. There’s not much difference between an intense category 4 and a low-end category 5,” according to the Guardian.
On Monday morning, the National Hurricane Center tweeted an advisory about the life-threatening storm.
“A prolonged period of catastrophic winds and storm surge will continue to affect Grand Bahama Island through today and tonight,” the post said, adding that “everyone there should remain in shelter and not venture into the eye.”
Here are the 11 AM EDT Key Messages for #Dorian. Interests everywhere from the east coast of Florida northeastward to the Outer Banks of North Carolina should be closely monitoring Dorian. pic.twitter.com/9jhuEZ8YW8
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) September 2, 2019
Reports said Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina have declared states of emergency as Hurricane Dorian approaches the coast.
“The ‘life-threatening’ storm hit the northern Bahamas early on Monday as one of the strongest Atlantic storms ever recorded, wrecking homes and cars in its path,” the Independent reported.
An update posted at 10 a.m. Monday on the National Hurricane Center’s website listed hazards such as wind gusts of up to 190 mph and “Storm Surge 18 to 23 feet above normal tide levels with higher destructive waves.”
Forecasters said Hurricane Dorian will move “dangerously close” to the Florida coast Monday night and into Wednesday evening as it makes its way toward Georgia and South Carolina on Wednesday night and into Thursday, according to AL.com.
The website stated:
Many in Florida were nervously eyeing the big storm just offshore and wondering when — or even if — it would turn from its westward track. The hurricane center said that may not happen until Tuesday. An area of high pressure that had been steering the storm westward has weakened as anticipated, which has resulted in Dorian slowing to a crawl over the Bahamas.
On Sunday evening, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) urged residents to heed all evacuation orders and said officials are closely monitoring the storm.
As we continue to monitor #Dorian, all Floridians should follow local reports and all evacuation orders. We are ready to deploy assets as needed and will continue to monitor traffic and fuel levels as more counties come under hurricane watches & warnings. https://t.co/QoSEQojXh1
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) September 2, 2019
“We are ready to deploy assets as needed and will continue to monitor traffic and fuel levels as more counties come under hurricane watches & warnings,” he wrote.
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