Hurricane Dorian fast facts
- As of 8 p.m. ET Monday, the National Hurricane Center said Dorian was a Category 4 storm battering the Bahamas. It had been a Category 5 storm overnight. Forecasters say the storm is stationary in the Atlantic.
- At least five people were killed in Abaco, according to Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Minnis.
- Forecasters say Dorian may spare the U.S. a direct hit, but will move close to Florida’s east coast late Monday.
- Mandatory evacuations were underway in some parts of Florida and ordered for later Monday for the coastlines of South Carolina and Georgia.
Hurricane Dorian unleashed massive flooding across the Bahamas Monday, shredding roofs, hurling cars and forcing rescue crews to take shelter. By late afternoon, the storm’s top sustained winds fell to 140 mph — down from 185 mph hours earlier — as it inched along on its path of destruction, the National Hurricane Center said.
Though the hurricane center was still forecasting that Dorian would stay just off the U.S. coast as it makes its way up the seaboard, evacuations were ordered for parts of Florida and, later on Monday, the Georgia and South Carolina coasts.
Acting DHS chief Kevin McAleenan said Sunday that even if the storm remains just off the U.S. mainland, it could still cause major problems with high winds, a devastating storm surge and heavy rain.
As of 8 p.m. ET Monday, Dorian’s center was some 25 miles northeast of Freeport, Grand Bahama Island, and about 105 miles east of West Palm Beach, Florida, the hurricane center said. The storm was stationary.
According to The Associated Press, Dorian tied the record for the most powerful Atlantic hurricane ever to come ashore in the Bahamas, equaling the Labor Day hurricane of 1935, before storms were named.
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