Hurricane Dorian, the second most powerful storm in recorded history to hit the region, has stalled over the Bahamas. As of Tuesday morning, the hurricane is still hovering around Grand Bahama Island. Eastern U.S. is bracing for impact.
Dorian brought gusts of 225mph and up to 30 inches of rainfall on Sunday, wrecked 13,000 homes, tore down power lines and left Grand Bahama International Airport in Freeport under five feet of water by Monday morning. Experts have also warned of a possible storm surge that could send destructive waves crashing into the coast.Dorian is the second-strongest Atlantic storm on record, and the joint-strongest ever to make landfall, after it barreled into the Bahamas with wind speeds of 185mph on Sunday.The storm weakened slightly today from a Category 5 to a Category 4 hurricane, the second-highest level, with sustained speeds of 155mph and gusts of 190mph by Monday afternoon. Through the afternoon, Dorian’s destructive eyewall continued to lash the Grand Bahama island.
Meteorologists are projecting Dorian to blast Grand Bahama through Monday evening before moving toward Florida on route to Georgia and the South Carolina coasts.
Officials have reported deaths and injuries while trying to assess the extent of the catastrophic destruction of the island.
At least five people have died and 21 have been injured as slow-moving Hurricane Dorian pummels the Bahamas, Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said Monday, grimly telling the world, “We are in the midst of a historic tragedy.”Dorian has slowed to a crawl but maximum sustained winds still reached 140 mph, forcing people including first responders to continue taking cover.Minnis said the deaths were on the hard-hit Abaco Islands, and helicopter crews were evacuating the injured. He also said some people in nearby Great Bahama island were in serious distress, and rescue crews will respond to calls for help as soon as weather conditions allow.Crews hoping to get a better assessment of the “catastrophic damage” reported in regions like the Abacos were still waiting for conditions to clear up, Foreign Minister Darren Henfield told state broadcaster ZNS.
Americans on the East coast are being asked to evacuate, though it appears that Dorian is anticipated to be a category 2 hurricane when it is likely to hit the Carolinas.
“Hurricane Dorian is the strongest storm to ever threaten the state of Florida on the east coast,” said Jared Moskowitz, director of Florida’s Division of Emergency Management. “No matter what path this storm takes, our state will be impacted.”…Storm surge is a major threat to the Georgia coastline as Dorian moves north — it could reach 4 to 7 feet by Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.Those in the Savannah area are urged to prepare for heavy rains, flooding and strong winds.Gov. Brian Kemp has ordered evacuations for residents east of Interstate 95 in Bryan, Camden, Chatham, Glynn, Liberty and McIntosh Counties.
As of 5AM EDT, Dorian is a Category 3 hurricane with sustained winds of 120mph. The Weather Channel reported “Dorian will have significant, damaging impact from Florida’s Atlantic coast to parts of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and possible southeast Virginia this week.”
Meanwhile, US Air Force Hurricane Hunters went into Dorian and filmed a well-developed eye, which is an indication that the hurricane is extremely powerful. Such missions improve the prediction of storm trajectories by 25%.
Hopefully, the aircrews saw someone’s “SEND BEER” message, and help is on its way.
Prayers are being said for the safety of the Legal Insurrection fans that are in the threatened areas.
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