The National Hurricane Center (NHC) released another update on Hurricane Dorian, which has been downgraded to a Category 4 storm but continues to pose a major risk — packing life-threatening flash floods and hurricane-force winds — to the coasts of Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas.
The NHC released the latest track at 11 a.m. ET, which did not show major changes but kept the U.S. east coast within the cone of uncertainty:
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
While the storm has been downgraded to a Category 4, it is still packing 155 mph winds and 190 mph wind gusts. It continues to batter the Bahamas, moving west at only one mph and bringing a storm surge of over 20 feet in some areas:
Crawling west at 1 mph… a slight jog northwest in the last few frames, but may only be a wobble
Some parts of the northwestern Bahamas have now been in the eyewall of a CAT 5 hurricane for 6-10 hours#Dorian #Bahamas pic.twitter.com/ioiNXiq3lo
— Michael Seger (@MichaelSeger) September 2, 2019
“Life-threatening storm surge and dangerous hurricane-force winds are expected along portions of the Florida east coast and Georgia coast, regardless of the exact track of Doran’s center,” the NHC reported.
“Water levels could begin to rise well in advance of the arrival of strong winds,” it warned.
“The risk of life-threatening storm surge and hurricane-force winds continues to increase along the coasts of South Carolina and North Carolina,” it added.
As the Weather Channel reported, the monster storm has undergone an eyewall replacement, explaining the slight weakening in intensity. However, the process causes the wind field to expand, resulting in a physically larger storm.
The NHC expanded the storm surge warning and watches further up Florida’s east coast, and the risk of life-threatening flash floods continues to increase:
The risk for heavy rains, capable of producing life-threatening flash floods, is increasing over coastal sections of the Southeast and lower Mid-Atlantic regions of the
United States into Friday from #Dorian. Full advisory: https://t.co/tW4KeFW0gB pic.twitter.com/nDSe9UwPln— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) September 2, 2019
Evacuation orders have been issued for at-risk areas in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina:
NEW: The Hurricane Warning along the east coast of Florida has been extended northward to the Flagler/Volusia County Line. The Hurricane Watch has been extended northward to Altamaha Sound, Georgia. Full advisory on #Dorian is at: https://t.co/tW4KeFW0gB pic.twitter.com/at3bCDs6OQ
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) September 2, 2019
NEW: The Storm Surge Warning has been extended northward along the east coast of Florida to the Flagler/Volusia County Line. The Storm Surge Watch has been extended northward along the Georgia
coast to the Savannah River. More on #Dorian is at https://t.co/tW4KeFW0gB pic.twitter.com/oKBaSZg0tu— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) September 2, 2019
Storm surge flooding is one of the most destructive and deadly impacts from hurricanes. Water levels are already rising along the SE coast ahead of #Dorian. Low-lying coastal areas are extremely vulnerable to this surge. Don’t wait, evacuate!
Latest: https://t.co/meemB5uHAR pic.twitter.com/bgBo8230Zc
— National Weather Service (@NWS) September 2, 2019
According to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), 17,000 Florida Power & Light (FPL) employees and workers are ready to respond to whatever Dorian brings to the Sunshine State:
Thanks to @insideFPL for assembling the largest pre-storm restoration workforce in company history, with approximately 17,000 folks ready to respond, including FPL employees and workers from other utilities and electrical contracting companies. https://t.co/K2ashCoeEx
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) September 2, 2019
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