Hurricane Dorian has been downgraded to Category 3 — but still poses a “life-threatening” risk to the US, where it is expected to hit late Tuesday.
The National Hurricane Center said early Tuesday that “devastating hurricane conditions” continued in the Bahamas. At least five people have been confirmed dead there as Dorian inched its way through.
With maximum sustained winds of 120 mph, the storm was downgraded, but the center warned, “Dorian is expected to remain a powerful hurricane during the next couple of days.”
As of 5 a.m., Dorian was about 105 miles east of Florida and was expected to fully hit late Tuesday.
Tropical storm warnings were in place for the day, with the NHC also warning that “water levels could begin to rise well in advance of the arrival of strong winds.”
“Life-threatening storm surge and dangerous hurricane-force winds are expected along portions of the Florida east coast and coasts of Georgia and South Carolina, regardless of the exact track of Dorian’s center,” the NHC warned in its latest advisory.
“The hurricane will move dangerously close to the Florida east coast late today through Wednesday evening, very near the Georgia and South Carolina coasts Wednesday night and Thursday, and near or over the North Carolina coast late Thursday,” the center added on Facebook.
“The combination of a dangerous storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the US East coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline.”
Hundreds of thousands of people in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina were ordered to evacuate — and Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam also declared a state of emergency, with the storm expected to reach there by Thursday.
A National Guard official, John Anderson, said many people were complying with the evacuation orders.
“We have not seen much resistance at all,” he said.
With Post wires




