President Donald Trump was briefed Sunday on Hurricane Dorian at Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) headquarters, on the potential impact of what is now a Category 5 storm.
“It’s one of the largest we’ve ever seen,” Trump said, addressing Americans from FEMA.
The storm made landfall in the Abaco Islands on Sunday with winds of 185 MPH winds and gusts over 220 MPH.
The eyewall of #Dorian is reaching the Abaco Islands. Residents there should take immediate shelter. Maximum winds have increased to near 175 mph with gusts over 200 mph. Extreme winds and storm surge will continue for several hours. https://t.co/PO7fEoxAde pic.twitter.com/83lndMA1WP
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) September 1, 2019
“We expect that much of the eastern seaboard would be ultimately impacted and some of it very, very severely,” Trump said
Storm forecasters predict that the storm will approach Florida on Monday evening, but will travel up the East Coast through Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina.
“We expect that much of the eastern seaboard would be ultimately impacted and some of it very, very severely,” Trump said.
The president commented on the size of the storm, noting it was one of the biggest he had seen.
“It’s been lurking, it’s just been building out there, it’s been moving very slowly, it’s a bad thing, not a good thing, the slower it moves, the bigger it is and the bigger it gets,” he said.
Trump urged everyone in the path of the hurricane to heed warnings and evacuation orders from local authorities.
“We don’t even know what’s coming at us, all we know is that it’s possibly the biggest … I’m not sure that I’ve ever heard of a Category 5,” he said.
Trump promised to utilize the full force of the federal government to help those in the path of the storm.
“Americans are strong, determined and resilient, and we will support each other,” he said. “And we will work very hard to minimize whatever the effect of what’s coming at us.”
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.