Hurricane Dorian strengthens into Category 4 storm as it inches toward Florida

Aug. 31--Hurricane Dorian strengthened into a Category 4 storm on Friday night with 130 mph winds and was forecasted to be even more powerful if it hits Florida with 140 mph winds, the National Hurricane Center said.

The projected path on Friday evening moved north again, with the storm predicted to make landfall north of Port St. Lucie, then making a right turn and head up Florida's east coast.

In its 8 p.m. update, the National Hurricane Center forecast Hurricane Dorian to be a Category 3 or 4 storm as it enters the Central Florida area early Tuesday afternoon and then moves up the coast toward Jacksonville as a Category 2 storm by Wednesday afternoon.

"A prolonged period of storm surge, high winds and rainfall is possible in portions of Florida into next week, including the possibility of hurricane-force winds over inland portions of the Florida peninsula," the NHC said.

The expected arrival of the storm is now on the tail end of Labor Day weekend as its forward speed has slowed, but Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday morning that is good and bad news.

"Floridians need to be prepared," DeSantis said. "The bad news of the storm going slower is that that could potentially have some negative impacts once it reaches landfall, but you do have time before it reaches to prepare if you have not done so."

Gas already became a premium with people filling up their cars and containers to refill generators -- GasBuddy said 40 percent of Central Florida stations were without fuel. DeSantis said the state was waiving weight restrictions and giving fuel tankers a police escort to resupply stations

On Friday, Brevard, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia County schools announced they would be closed Tuesday. UCF had already canceled Friday afternoon classes as well as classes on Tuesday, as has Rollins College.

Orlando International Airport announced it will cease commercial flight operations on at 2 a.m. Monday. Passengers should check with individual airlines for flight information and schedules.

"Hurricane Dorian has strengthened and slowed. Our plan currently is to run full operations through Sunday," said Phil Brown, CEO of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority in a press release. "We don't know exactly where Dorian is going but we do know that it will have a significant impact on the entire state of Florida. So in order to allow the airport's 25,000 employees time to secure their homes and families we feel it is prudent to cease operations in a timely fashion."

SunRail said it was suspending service all of next week.

-- Hurricane Dorian News

Hurricane Dorian: Live updates from around Florida

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

Aug 30, 2019 -- 10:55 AM

-- Hurricane Dorian News

When will Hurricane Dorian hit Orlando?

By Richard Tribou

Aug 30, 2019 -- 8:37 PM

As of Friday afternoon, area theme parks had not announced any closings, although Kennedy Space Center Visitor's Complex will be closed Sunday and Monday.

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer predicted there were be thousands of downed trees and localized flooding in the city if the storm is as bad as predicted. The City of Orlando also will be opening city parking garages for people to put their cars in a secure environment, although he didn't specify a time they would open.

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said the county is prepared for whatever Dorian brings.

"It's showtime," Demings said. "We're ready."

Brevard County will begin mandatory evacuations this weekend as officials and residents brace for Hurricane Dorian's arrival.

Homes in the county's barrier islands and other flood-prone areas and residents living in manufactured or mobile homes are told to leave the area 8 a.m. Sunday, Sheriff Wayne Ivey said in a video posted to Facebook.

DeSantis also warned of power outages and said utility companies were pre-positioning workers to restore electricity for customers after Dorian passes.

The Orlando Utilities Commission has tripled its resources, with help coming from Nebraska, Michigan and Missouri, said Jenise Osani, a spokeswoman for the utility.

At 8 p.m. Friday, Hurricane Dorian had maximum sustained winds of 125 mph, and was located about 400 miles east of the northwestern Bahamas and 575 miles east of West Palm Beach.

It was moving to the northwest at 10 mph, slowing down in forward speed even more Monday, which pushed its projected Florida landfall even farther into next week. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 30 miles from the storm's center, and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 115 miles.

A hurricane warning was issued for the northwestern Bahamas.

President Donald Trump declared a statewide emergency, ordering federal assistance to supplement state and local efforts responding to Dorian.. Trump warned it could be an "absolute monster."

"All indications are it's going to hit very hard and it's going to be very big," Trump said in a video he tweeted Thursday evening, comparing Dorian to Hurricane Andrew.

At 140 mph, it would be the strongest storm to hit Florida's east coast since Andrew tore through South Florida in August 1992, which caused more than $25 billion in damages and was blamed for 44 deaths.

Because of the Hurricane Dorian's slow motion, there will be greater impact from wind and rain for South and Central Florida.

"Dorian looks to produce a lot of rain for Central Florida, possibly around 2 feet in some locations," said Fox 35 meteorologist Jayme King.

Because the storm is still days away, the NHC cautioned that its path might change.

"Given the collapse of the steering currents, the track forecast by the end of the forecast period is highly uncertain, and any small deviation in the track could bring the core of the powerful hurricane well inland over the Florida, keep it near the coast, or offshore," the NHC said.

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody has activated the state's price gouging hotline, giving residents a way to report businesses violating the law by charging too much for lodging and goods during Hurricane Dorian. Moody said gouging could be reported by (866) 966-7226 or online at myfloridalegal.com

The threat of winds in Orlando has prompted companies Lime and HOPR to begin removing their fleets of bicycles that are strewn across the city.

The path of the storm has coastal concerns making moves including Port Canaveral on alert and cruise lines shifting ships and changing itineraries. Also, major airlines began allowing travelers to change their reservations without a fee.

Coastal areas in the Southeast could get 6 to 12 inches of rain, with 18 inches in some places, triggering life-threatening flash floods, the hurricane center said.

Also imperiled were the Bahamas, with Dorian's expected track running just to the north of Great Abaco and Grand Bahama islands.

The Hurricane Center also began tracking a tropical wave off the coast of Africa that as of 8 a.m. has a 30 percent chance of tropical system formation in the next five days. If it forms, it will be the seventh tropical depression of the 2019 Atlantic hurricane season. If it grows into a named storm, it would become Tropical Storm Fernand.

Orlando Sentinel staff writers Austin Fuller, Marco Santana, Cristóbal Reyes, Mark Skoneki, Gray Rohrer, Stephen Hudak, Ryan Gillespie and The Associated Press contributed to this story.

-- Hurricane Dorian

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