Hurricane Dorian crawls toward Bahamas with wind speeds of 150 mph; Georgia, Carolinas could be in its path

New York Daily News, The (NY)

Aug. 31--Hurricane Dorian continued to gain muscle on its slow crawl across the Atlantic as it bore down on the Northwestern Bahamas early Saturday afternoon.

The National Hurricane Center warned in its latest update that the unpredictable storm is expected to bring "a prolonged period of life-threatening storm surge and devastating hurricane force winds" to the island nation -- specifically the Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama Island.

As of 2 p.m., Dorian was a Category 4 storm centered about 205 miles northeast of the Northwestern Bahamas with maximum sustained wind speeds of 150 mph -- just 7 mph shy of a Category 5 storm classification.

Wind speeds are expected to strengthen to 155 mph before weakening as it approaches the U.S. coast.

The Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Minnis called for residents to evacuate the Northern Islands late Saturday afternoon.

"To those of you in the Cays and Grand Bahamas, I beg, please leave. (The storm) is expected to cause devastating effects to our island," he said, per CNN.

"If you wait until tonight, it will be too late. Time is not on our side."

Dorian's threat to Florida continued to shrink Saturday, though the Hurricane Center still said the Sunshine State could face hurricane-force winds and storm surges by the middle of next week. Heavy rain is also likely, with forecasters predicting at least six inches even if the storm does not directly strike the coast.

"Since Dorian is forecast to slow down and turn northward near or just offshore of the coast, it is too soon to determine when the highest surge and wind could occur," the update reads.

The hurricane's shift early Saturday put it on track instead to potentially roar ashore in Georgia or the Carolinas -- states that are now facing an increased risk of strong winds and dangerous storm surge.

"Looking like our great state of South Carolina could get hit MUCH harder than first thought. Georgia and North Carolina also," President Trump tweeted late Saturday morning.

"It's moving around and very hard to predict, except that it is one of the biggest and strongest (and really wide) that we have seen in decades. Be safe!"

Forecasters have dubbed the span of coast where they expect the storm to make landfall a "cone of uncertainty," and it covers portions of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. All residents living within the so-called "cone" should have their hurricane prep completed by Saturday night, the Hurricane Center warned.

The storm also slowed Saturday afternoon and was moving west at about 8 mph. It's expected to strike the Bahamas sometime Sunday, though residents are likely to see its impacts as early as Saturday evening.

Dorian is expected to slow even further on Monday as it approaches the U.S. coast and could make landfall anywhere within the "cone" as early as Tuesday afternoon.

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