Hurricane Dorian begins to move toward Florida as wind field expands

Sep. 3--Hurricane Dorian remained a major hurricane Tuesday morning with 115 mph winds as it began to make its slow exit from the Bahamas and bring tropical storm-force winds into Florida.

As of 10 a.m., the storm dropped to a low Category 3 hurricane with gusts up to 140 mph was located 100 miles east-northeast of West Palm Beach and 45 miles northeast of Freeport, Grand Bahama, and has finally begun to show movement northwest at 1 mph. The storm had been stationary all morning with 120 mph winds as it was most of Monday, continuing to torment the Bahamas, which it struck on Sunday as a deadly Category 5 hurricane with 185 mph sustained winds and 220 mph gusts.

"The ultimate problem here is when is this thing going to kick out of the Bahamas and move past our area," said WOFL Fox-35 meteorologist Jayme King. "The latest forecast cone path adjustment looks like even further offshore of our shoreline here in Central Florida, though. I don't want you to let your guard down until it's north of our latitude."

The storm is projected to continue a north-northwest movement today and Florida is completely out of the the cone of uncertainty, although the size of the storm continues to send tropical storm-force gusts into the state's coastal counties. Hurricane-force winds extend out 45 miles with tropical storm-force winds extending out 160 miles.

A statement from the NHC warns Floridians to still be wary of the forecast track, even though it doesn't show Dorian making landfall on the Florida east coast.

"A relatively small deviation to the left of this track could bring the core of the hurricane near or over the coastline," forecasters said.

-- Hurricane Dorian News

Hurricane Dorian: Live updates from around Florida

By Richard Tribou, Todd Stewart, Ricky Pinela, Tiffini Theisen, Mark Skoneki, Kathleen Christiansen and Lynnette Cantos

Sep 02, 2019 -- 1:10 PM

Sustained winds along the Treasure Coast and into Brevard County today are expected to be 30-45 mph with wind gusts of 50-60 mph possible, forecasters said. Gusts up to 75 mph could be a threat as Dorian's outer rain bands pass over the state. A wind gust of 61 mph was reported this morning in Juno Beach in Palm Beach County.

In addition, storm surges of 3 to 5 feet above normal could occur along the coast of Florida and rainfall of 3 to 6 inches with pockets of 10 inches.

"Dorian is expected to more or less maintain its intensity for about 36 hours," NHC forecasters said. "After that time period, increasing vertical shear should cause gradual weakening. However, the system is likely to remain a major hurricane for the next few days."

Its projected path keeps it offshore nearly 100 mph, although some models bring it closer to Brevard County by Wednesday. The NHC's latest track keeps it as a Category 3 hurricane with 120 mph winds and 150 mph gusts off Port St. Lucie by 2 p.m. today, passing Brevard County overnight and off St. Augustine by 2 p.m. Wednesday.

FPL, which services most of Florida's east coast counties, reported power outages popping up along the coastal counties. As of 10 a.m. Tuesday, FPL reported nearly 1,400 customers without power between Palm Beach County and Volusia counties, down from more than 4,000 this morning. Winds have to be under 35 mph for FPL trucks to service power outages.

Hurricane warnings run from Jupiter Inlet to Ponte Vedra Beach with a hurricane watch from Jupiter Inlet south to Deerfield Beach and north from Ponte Vedra Beach to South Santee River, South Carolina. A tropical storm warning is in place for north of Deerfield Beach to Jupiter Inlet and from north of Ponte Vedra Beach to Altamaha Sound, Georgia. Tropical storm watches are in place for north of Golden Beach to Deerfield Beach and Lake Okeechobee.

In Central Florida, a storm surge warning and hurricane warning are in effect for coastal Volusia, Indian River, Martin, Brevard and St. Lucie counties with tropical storm warning in effect for inland Volusia, Lake, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties.

Bahamas Devastation

Hurricane Dorian came to a catastrophic daylong halt over the northwest Bahamas, flooding the islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama with walls of water that lapped into the second floors of buildings, trapped people in attics and drowned the Grand Bahama airport under 6 feet of water. At least five people died and 21 injured people were airlifted to the capital by the U.S. Coast Guard, Bahamas officials said.

"We are in the midst of a historic tragedy," Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said. "The devastation is unprecedented and extensive."

Winds and rain continued to pound the northwest islands, sending people fleeing the floodwaters from one shelter to another.

The U.S. Coast Guard airlifted at least 21 people injured on Abaco Island, which Dorian hit on Sunday with sustained winds of 185 mph and gusts up to 220 mph, a strength matched only by the Labor Day hurricane of 1935, before storms were named. Scientists say climate change generally has been fueling more powerful and wetter storms and the only recorded storm more powerful than Dorian was Hurricane Allen in 1980, with 190 mph winds, though it did not make landfall at that strength.

Abaco and Grand Bahama, neither much more than 40 feet above sea level at their highest points, are home to some 70,000 people.

Bahamian officials said they received a "tremendous" number of calls from people in flooded homes. One radio station said it received more than 2,000 distress messages, including reports of a 5-month-old baby stranded on a roof and a woman with six grandchildren who cut a hole in a roof to escape rising floodwaters. At least two designated storm shelters flooded.

Dorian killed one person in Puerto Rico, at the start of its path through the Caribbean.

Minnis said many homes and buildings were severely damaged or destroyed, but it was too early to say how much the rebuilding effort would cost. Choppy brown floodwaters reached roofs and the top of palm trees on Monday.

Parliament member Iram Lewis told The Associated Press his greatest fear was that waters would keep rising overnight and that stranded people would lose contact with officials as cellphone batteries died.

"It is scary," he said, adding that Grand Bahama's airport was 6 feet (almost 2 meters) underwater and that people were moving shelters as floodwaters kept surging. "We're definitely in dire straits."

Central Florida gets ready

Orlando International Airport shut down early Tuesday morning, and local theme parks cut back hours or are closing altogether Tuesday as Central Florida braces for potentially heavy rains and tropical storm force or stronger winds.

Orlando Sanford International Airport, Orlando Melbourne International Airport and Daytona Beach International Airport shut down on Monday.

FlightAware.com reported that that airlines had cancelled 1,361 flights within, into or out of the U.S. by Monday afternoon -- vastly above an average day -- with Fort Lauderdale International the most affected, and airlines had already canceled 1,057 flights for Tuesday, many involving Orlando, Fort Lauderdale and Miami airports.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sought to guard against "storm fatigue," urging residents to pay attention to local alerts and evacuation orders, in case the storm jogs west before turning north, as most forecasters predict.

"This has been frustrating, I know, for a lot of people because it seems like we've been talking about this a long time, but we are in a situation where the storm is stalling very close to our coast," DeSantis said from the state Emergency Operations Center. "It is going to make a move, and the movement that it makes is going to have a lot of impacts on Floridians."

DeSantis on Sunday suspended tolls along State Road 528 (the BeachLine Expressway), Alligator Alley, the Sawgrass Expressway (State Road 869) and Florida's Turnpike, including the Homestead Extension (State Road 821). DeSantis also received a request from Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings to suspend tolls along State Road 408, 417 and 429, which he approved. Read more about toll suspensions here.

In Central Florida, many residents encountered long lines and shortages at some stations as a run on gas took flight as Dorian's magnitude became clear.

Almost a quarter of gas stations in the Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne were without fuel, according to GasBuddy.

Osceola County announced a curfew to begin Tuesday night ahead of the expected arrival of Hurricane Dorian along Florida's east coast.

The Orlando Utilities Commission warned Sunday afternoon that power outages are "likely" in Orange and Osceola counties. Ahead of Hurricane Dorian, electrical utilities in Central Florida have brought hundreds of workers from around the country who are prepared to restore power after the storm.

Evacuation orders have been issued by most counties for coastal areas from Palm Beach County north to the Florida-Georgia border. Several hospitals were evacuated. In addition, 72 nursing homes and assisted living facilities have been evacuated, with more expected as Dorian moves up the coast.

Eleven shelters opened Sunday and Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said he expects residents from coastal communities in Brevard and Volusia counties to seek safety in those facilities.

Orange and Osceola County government offices and courts will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday because of Hurricane Dorian.

Parking fees have been waived in downtown Orlando garages since noon Monday for those looking for an alternative place to park their vehicles. In Kissimmee, overnight parking will be free at Toho Square parking garage, the SunRail/Intermodal parking garage and the Osceola County Courthouse parking garage downtown.

SunRail still plans to be shut down through Friday, and Amtrak has canceled multiple trains through Tuesday. Lynx hasn't announced any cancellations, but its buses will not run in sustained winds of 35 mph or more.

Local theme parks tweaked hours or announced closures.

Central Florida school systems had already canceled classes for Tuesday, as did area colleges and universities. The UCF campus is closed through Thursday. Rollins College hopes to reopen Thursday with classes resuming on Friday. Valencia College will be closed through Thursday.

The Orlando Veterans Affairs Healthcare System is providing resources for Central Florida veterans affected by Hurricane Dorian to receive emergency services and prescription medication.

President Trump already declared a state of emergency and was briefed about what he called a "monstrous" storm. He was receiving hourly updates on Labor Day while at his private Virginia golf club, where he spent several hours Monday.

The National Hurricane Center said the track would carry the storm "dangerously close to the Florida east coast late Tuesday through Wednesday evening and then move dangerously close to the Georgia and South Carolina coasts on Wednesday night and Thursday."

While it was expected to stay offshore, meteorologist Daniel Brown cautioned that "only a small deviation" could draw the storm's dangerous core toward land.

A mandatory evacuation of entire South Carolina coast took effect Monday covering about 830,000 people, and transportation officials reversed all lanes of Interstate 26 from Charleston to head inland earlier than planned after noticing traffic jams from evacuees and vacationers heading home on Labor Day, Gov. Henry McMaster said.

A few hours later, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp ordered mandatory evacuations for that state's Atlantic coast, also starting at midday Monday.

Meanwhile, forecasters were watching four potential tropical systems that could become the next tropical depression and possibly Tropical Storm Fernand.

Staff writers Tiffini Theisen, Ricky Pinela, Lisa Maria Garza, Tess Sheets, Dave Harris, Stephen Hudak, Roger Simmons, Matt Palm, Cristobal Reyes, Ryan Gillespie and Naseem Miller and the Sun-Sentinel and Associated Press contributed to this story.

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