Hurricane Dorian batters southeast coast on way to New England

Sep. 5--Hurricane Dorian has dumped heavy rain and gusty winds on the nation's southern Atlantic coast and will continue to deliver a siege of storm-surge flooding before approaching New England this weekend.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said, "We are very worried, especially about the barrier islands getting cut off if we have these storm surges at the same time as ... the high tides."

Dorian was 115 miles east of Jacksonville, Fla., moving northwest at 9 mph Wednesday night with sustained winds of 105 mph.

Utilities say Hurricane Dorian could leave hundreds of thousands without electricity in the southeastern United States as it moves up the Atlantic Coast.

Officials in South Carolina warned residents about the potential for life-threatening flooding and a statement from Georgetown County said anyone who lives near the waterfront in the coastal town of Georgetown should evacuate.

About 830,000 people were under mandatory evacuation orders on the South Carolina coast and more than 400 people were in state-operated shelters.

Mark Russell, a homeless U.S. Army veteran, said he had been in a shelter since Monday awaiting slow-moving Dorian.

"Once the rain comes and the wind hits, it's going to blow left, right, in and out, and there's not really a place that you can find" to avoid it, said Russell, 63.

Although Dorian's track remains uncertain, the hurricane could approach Massachusetts on Friday into Saturday and produce nor'easter conditions, according to the National Weather Service.

Dorian is projected to downgrade to a Category 1 storm and stay about 125 miles east of Cape Cod but the outer Cape and Nantucket could still see wind gusts up to 50 mph and a couple inches of rain.

Isolated power outages are possible on the Cape, with 4-to-8 foot waves on south-facing Massachusetts beaches. The National Weather Service is warning people of the large waves and potential for rip currents.

Dorian will continue to widen and weaken, but thunderstorms could take out the power in Massachusetts. Boston could see wind gusts up to 35 mph as a result of Dorian.

The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency issued a situational awareness statement about the impending weather with main concerns including rough surf, tropical storm conditions and dangerous marine conditions.

There is minimal risk of tornadoes in Massachusetts, according to MEMA.

President Trump gave an update about Hurricane Dorian from the White House Wednesday afternoon, saying, "Hopefully we're going to be lucky, it depends on what happens in South Carolina and North Carolina, but it's heading up the coast and Florida was grazed."

Trump said the United States is providing humanitarian support to the Bahamas. At least 20 deaths have been reported in the Bahamas, with the full scope of the disaster still unknown.

Herald wire services contributed to this report.

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