Hurricane Dorian sparks evacuation of 1.5 MILLION people in the US as 225mph gusts devastate the Bahamas and leave boy, 7, dead
HURRICANE Dorian has pounded the Bahamas with destructive 225mph gusts as the killer storm rages towards the US. Around 1.5 million people have been evacuated from South Carolina, Georgia and Florida as the Category 5 monster heads for America. First death recorded in Abaco following Hurrican Dorian passage on Abaco…. BP BREAKING| The first recorded […]
HURRICANE Dorian has pounded the Bahamas with destructive 225mph gusts as the killer storm rages towards the US.
Around 1.5 million people have been evacuated from South Carolina, Georgia and Florida as the Category 5 monster heads for America.
The storm made landfall in the Bahamas with devastating force on Sunday, ripping off roofs, flipping cars and sending flood waters gushing through the streets.
Seven-year-old Lachino Mcintosh is believed to be the first victim of the hurricane, according to the Bahamas Press.
The schoolboy reportedly drowned in floodwater and his sister is currently missing.
The storm blew down power lines in the Bahamas while hundreds hunkered down in schools, churches and other shelters for safety.
“It’s devastating,” said Joy Jibrilu of the Bahamas’ Ministry of Tourism adding “there has been huge damage to property and infrastructure.”
Residents of the Abacos, where Dorian first hit, are advised to remain in their shelters until conditions subside later Monday.
The storm’s top sustained winds hit 185mph, with gusts of 225mph, while it spun along Grand Bahama island today.
‘GET TO SAFETY’
The governors of South Carolina and Georgia ordered more than a million people to evacuate their coasts beginning Monday after Dorian devastated the Bahamas.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp both announced mandatory evacuation orders to take effect at noon Monday.
The South Carolina order covers all of Beaufort and Charleston counties and parts of the rest of the state’s coastal counties, which state officials estimated covered 830,000 people.
The Georgia order covers people who live east of Interstate 95 in the counties along the Atlantic coast; that includes Savannah and most of its 150,000 residents.
Mandatory evacuation orders in Florida are for low-lying and flood-prone areas and mobile homes.
These take effect starting either Sunday or Monday from Palm Beach County north to at least the Daytona Beach area.
More than 600 Labor Day flights in the US have been cancelled, many of them in Florida as Hurricane Dorian barrels toward the state’s coast.
Locals on the Abaco Islands posted video clips on social media to let the world know the storm was already wreaking havoc in the Bahamas.
Some showed homes missing parts of their roofs, downed power lines and smashed and overturned cars. One showed floodwaters rushing through the streets of an unidentified town at nearly the height of a car roof.
Hundreds of residents on the island of Grand Bahamas have already fled from its predicted path amid official warnings the storm surge could be life-threatening and as high as 23ft in places.
And the pummelling is expected to last for hours as the hurricane may slow to just one mph “prolonging its catastrophic effects,” the NHC said.
Dorian has also grown larger in size, with hurricane-force winds currently extending 45 miles from the storm’s centre and is now the second strongest hurricane on modern record in the region.
With winds at 185 mph, Dorian ties with Gilbert (1988), Wilma (2005). Only Allen in 1980 was more powerful with 190mph winds.
Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Minnis begged residents of Abaco and Grand Bahamas to head for the main island to escape the “devastating, dangerous” storm.
“I want you to remember: homes, houses, structures can be replaced. Lives cannot be replaced,” he said.
He added that 73,000 people and 21,000 homes were at risk to storm surges.
Still, dozens of people ignored evacuation orders, officials said, and they were warned that they were placing their lives in danger.
“The end could be fatal,” said Samuel Butler, assistant police commissioner. “We ask you, we beg you, we plead with you to get to a place of safety.”
Silbert Mills, owner of the Bahamas Christian Network, said trees and power lines were torn down in The Abaco Islands and some roads were impassable.
“The winds are howling like we’ve never, ever experienced before,” said Mills, 59, who planned to ride out the hurricane with his family in the concrete home he built 41 years ago in central Abaco.
Authorities closed some airports in the outlying islands, but the main international airport remains open on Sunday.
“This is a life-threatening situation,” the NHC warned. “Residents there should take immediate shelter. Do not venture into the eye if it passes over your location.”
The eye of the storm – now at the highest possible category – is expected to lay waste to the Abaco Islands before barrelling northwards to Florida and Georgia.
Millions of people from Florida to North Carolina were bracing to see if Dorian would make landfall in the US or veer north into the Atlantic Ocean after hitting the Bahamas.
Even a glancing blow from one of the strongest storms ever to menace Florida could bring torrential rains and damaging winds.
Bahamas residents have already reported trees snapping and docks being destroyed before the brunt of the storm arrived.
On Great Guana Cay, just off Great Abaco Island, waves began washing over low-lying parts of the tiny nine-mile strand of land.
Although some residents left for Nassau and elsewhere days ago, some 200 to 300 are riding out the storm on the island.
US President Donald Trump warned on Sunday that the storm would likely impact the eastern seaboard from Florida to North Carolina.
He said: “Looking like one of the largest hurricanes ever.”
Speaking to reporters outside of Marine One on Sunday, Trump said the storm “appears to be bigger than we’ve ever seen.
“That’s the problem,” Trump said. “We don’t know where it’s going to hit, seems to be going to Florida, now it should be going to Georgia, the Carolinas. Alabama to get a bit of a beat down.
“You’ll be learning more probably over the course of the next 24 hours.”
Mr Trump later tweeted: “Pray for the people in the Bahamas. Being hit like never before, Category 5. Almost 200 MPH winds.”
It is expected to make landfall on Florida’s eastern coast before spinning through Georgia and South Carolina.
According to tracking site FlightAware.com, 200 flights to, from or within America were cancelled on Saturday.
And as of this morning another 200 planes were grounded for US trips scheduled for Sunday.
The site said: “We expect these numbers to increase in the upcoming days, especially at airports in the region where Dorian is to make landfall.”
Airlines have been issuing waivers to customers for several days for journeys which are heading to destinations in the hurricane’s path, reports CNN.
While travel firms have issued advisories to cities in Florida, Georgia and the Caribbean – more waiver options will be issued for the Carolinas as the massive storm moves northwards up the east coast.
Radar shows the eye of Hurricane Dorian during a reconnaissance mission over the Atlantic Ocean
Operations at Orlando International Airport will be suspended at 2am Monday local time, according to an official statement.
Miami International Airport and Fort Lauderdale International Airport have yet to confirm what action they will take and are monitoring the hurricane’s path, it has been reported.
The storm shifted its path and could graze Florida’s coast and continue on to Georgia and North and South Carolina.
And that’s the same route as Category 5 Matthew took three years ago – hugging the southern east coast of the country while still causing billions of dollars of damage.
The killer hurricane devastated the four states bringing wind and flood damage, killing 47 and leaving millions without power.
But Bryan Norcross, a senior hurricane specialist, told Florida Today that Dorian is moving even slower than Matthew which means it could wreak more havoc on the sunshine state.
He said: “As it stands right now, coastal Florida has got to be ready for storm surge exceeding Matthew. And higher winds than Matthew. And heavier rain than Matthew.
How hurricanes are measured
The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale is based on a hurricane’s sustained wind speed.
- A Category 1 storm has sustained winds of 74-95 mph
- A Category 2 storm has sustained winds of 96-110 mph
- A Category 3 storm has sustained winds of 111-129 mph
- A Category 4 storm has sustained winds of 130-156mph
- A Category 5 storm has sustained winds of 156mph+
“Just be ready for that. We’re in a position where you’re talking three, four, five days in advance of what you have to be ready for.
“The threat is real from the Treasure Coast throughout the Florida peninsula. The trend is somewhat favourable — though the danger is still high along the immediate coastline.”
The devastation caused by Dorian could be made worse by exceptionally strong tides called King Tide -which makes coastal areas more vulnerable to flooding.
The super-strength tide happens around the time as a full moon or new moon and this year the King Tides have already flooded neighbourhoods in Miami – and the most recent full moon was yesterday.
The storm’s winds reached 150mph today – just 6mph shy of becoming a Category 5 hurricane.
Winds are currently raging over the warm Atlantic waters and is inching towards the northwestern Bahamas, according to the US National Hurricane Center.
The centre says the storm’s path is still unpredictable, but Georgia and the Carolinas are now at risk of “strong winds and life-threatening storm surge”.
The hurricane has slowed down since Thursday as it was originally expected to make landfall by Sunday.
The NHC still warned Florida residents to say on alert.
They said: “It should be noted that the new forecast track does not preclude Dorian making landfall on the Florida coast, as large portions of the coast remain in the track cone of uncertainty.”
Supermarket shelves have been left bare as residents scramble to prepare for the Category 4 storm.
Floridians left supermarket shelves empty after grabbing water, bread and canned goods in the event power and water are cut off.
At a Publix supermarket in Cocoa Beach, Ed Ciecirski of the customer service department said the pharmacy was extra busy with people rushing to fill prescriptions.
Dorian's Forecast Timing
The Weather Channel
Saturday: Dorian is expected to slow its forward motion and will likely begin to impact the northwestern Bahamas with tropical storm-force winds by Saturday night.
Sunday: Dorian’s hurricane siege will begin in the northwest Bahamas as it continues to slow down. Tropical storm-force winds may begin to arrive in parts of Florida. Large swells should begin to arrive at the coast from North Carolina to Florida.
Monday: Dorian may still be hammering the northwest Bahamas as it crawls slowly. Bands of rain, strong winds may affect parts of Florida. How strong the winds will be depends on how close the center of Dorian is to the Florida coast, which is uncertain at this time.
Tuesday-Thursday: Dorian is expected to move north, then northeast near the coasts of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. The exact track is very uncertain, ranging from a track far enough offshore to keep hurricane force winds away from land, to a landfall anywhere in this zone.
Friday-Next Saturday: Dorian is then expected to race off the Northeast Seaboard, but could track close enough to bring rain and some wind to the Virginia Tidewater, Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard and Cape Cod, before it heads toward the Canadian Maritimes by next weekend.
The grocery was rationing bottled water and had run out of dry ice.
Homeowners and businesses rushed to cover their windows with plywood.
Tiffany Miranda of Miami Springs, Florida said: “I feel helpless because the whole coast is threatened.
“What’s the use of going all the way to Georgia if it can land there?”
“You never know with these hurricanes. It could be good, it could be bad. You just have to be prepared.”
Jeremy Kichler, a University of Georgia extension agent in Colquitt County who works with local farmers, told local news: “A lot of folks are still recovering from Irma two years ago and Michael last year.
“I don’t know if we can stand another one.”
Ron DeSantis, the governor, said the Florida Highway Patrol would begin escorting fuel trucks to help them get past the lines of waiting motorists and replenish gas stations.
On Friday, the National Hurricane Center said Dorian had just reached “extremely dangerous” Category 4 status with winds already clocking 130 mph (215 kph).
The first mandatory evacuation orders were carried out this morning.
MOST READ IN NEWS
Residents in Brevard County have been told to start leaving at 8am on Sunday The Weather Channel reports.
Coastal areas could get 6 to 12 inches (15 to 30cm) of rain, with 18 inches (46cm) in some places, triggering life-threatening flash floods, the hurricane center said.
FEMA official Jeff Byard said Dorian is likely to “create a lot of havoc” for roads, power and other infrastructure.
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