Missouri first responders head to Florida in preparation for Hurricane Dorian

Sep. 3--Missouri first responders and volunteers traveled south this week, closer to the path of Hurricane Dorian, to help in the aftermath of the powerful storm barreling toward the East Coast.

Over the weekend, Missouri Task Force 1 sent 52 members to Florida from St. Louis and around the state. The team included firefighters, doctors, engineers and others, and will specialize in water rescues, according to the Boone County Fire department, which oversees the task force. It is one of 28 FEMA task forces of its kind in the country.

Members have arrived and are staying at a hotel in Jacksonville, Florida, until the storm hits, said task force spokesman Gale Blomenkamp.

On Monday, volunteers in St. Louis loaded food and water into one of nine emergency response vehicles the American Red Cross of Missouri and Arkansas sent south for Dorian response. This week 32 volunteers from both states, including six from St. Louis, traveled to Alabama and Florida to wait for the storm.

Utility crews with Ameren Missouri are monitoring the storm, and may also send crews into the path of Dorian if the need arises, said Mike Lewis with the company's reliability support services.

Hurricane Dorian hovered over the Bahamas on Monday, pummeling the islands with wind that shredded roofs, hurled cars and forced even rescue crews to take shelter until the onslaught passes.

On Sunday, Dorian's maximum sustained winds reached 185 mph (297 kph), with gusts up to 220 mph (354 kph), tying the record for the most powerful Atlantic hurricane to ever make landfall. That equaled the Labor Day hurricane of 1935, before storms were named. The only recorded storm that was more powerful was Hurricane Allen in 1980, with 190 mph (305 kph) winds, though it did not make landfall at that strength.

Forecasters said Dorian was likely to begin pulling away from the Bahamas early Tuesday and curving to the northeast parallel to the U.S. Southeast seaboard. The potent storm was expected to stay close to shore and hammer the coast. Authorities cautioned that it could still make landfall on the East Coast.

An advisory from the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami warned that Florida's east-central coast could see a brief tornado sometime Monday afternoon or evening.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster issued an order Sunday for the mandatory evacuation of his state's entire coast. The order, which covers about 830,000 people, was to take effect at noon Monday, at which point state troopers were to make all lanes on major coastal highways one-way heading inland.

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

Authorities in Florida ordered mandatory evacuations in some vulnerable coastal areas over the weekend.

Hurricane Dorian pummels Bahamas with Category 4 assault

Hurricane Dorian pummels Bahamas with Category 4 assault

Seagulls fly toward a woman feeding them french fries from her car on Taino beach before the arrival of Hurricane Dorian in Freeport, Grand Bahama, Bahamas, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019. Hurricane Dorian intensified yet again Sunday as it closed in on the northern Bahamas, threatening to batter islands with Category 5-strength winds, pounding waves and torrential rain. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Ramon Espinosa

The Latest: Dorian's center leaving Grand Bahama island

The Latest: Dorian's center leaving Grand Bahama island

Strong winds move the palms of the palm trees at the first moment of the arrival of Hurricane Dorian in Freeport, Grand Bahama, Bahamas, Sunday Sept. 1, 2019. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Ramon Espinosa

The Latest: Dorian weakens to Category 3 hurricane

The Latest: Dorian weakens to Category 3 hurricane

A car returns to the capital under the previous rain before the arrival of Hurricane Dorian in Freeport, Grand Bahama, Bahamas, Sunday Sept. 1, 2019. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Ramon Espinosa

The Latest: Dorian weakens to Category 3 hurricane

The Latest: Dorian weakens to Category 3 hurricane

Anastacia Makey, 43, far right, looks at her phone as she and her family sits on cots with other residents inside a church that was opened up as a shelter as they wait out Hurricane Dorian in Freeport on Grand Bahama, Bahamas, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019. Hurricane Dorian intensified yet again Sunday as it closed in on the northern Bahamas, threatening to batter islands with Category 5-strength winds, pounding waves and torrential rain. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Ramon Espinosa

Hurricane Dorian pummels Bahamas with Category 4 assault

Hurricane Dorian pummels Bahamas with Category 4 assault

Karen Alexis, a Florida Department of Heath staffer, gets information from an evacuee, at an evacuation shelter for people with special needs, in preparation for Hurricane Dorian, at Dr. David L. Anderson Middle School in Stuart, Fla., Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019. Some coastal areas are under a mandatory evacuation since the path of the storm is still uncertain. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Gerald Herbert

Hurricane Dorian pummels Bahamas with Category 4 assault

Hurricane Dorian pummels Bahamas with Category 4 assault

President Donald Trump, left, listens as Kenneth Graham, director of NOAA's National Hurricane Center, on screen, gives an update during a briefing about Hurricane Dorian at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019, in Washington, at right of Trump is Acting Administrator Pete Gaynor, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and acting White House chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler, and Neil Jacobs, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Environmental Observation and Prediction. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Jacquelyn Martin

Hurricane Dorian pummels Bahamas with Category 4 assault

Hurricane Dorian pummels Bahamas with Category 4 assault

Florida Department of Health staffers set up beds at an evacuation shelter for people with special needs, in preparation for Hurricane Dorian, at Dr. David L. Anderson Middle School in Stuart, Fla., Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019. Some coastal areas are under a mandatory evacuation since the path of the storm is still uncertain. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Gerald Herbert

Hurricane Dorian pummels Bahamas with Category 4 assault

Hurricane Dorian pummels Bahamas with Category 4 assault

Women sit on cots inside a church now serving as a shelter for residents who will wait out Hurricane Dorian in Freeport on Grand Bahama, Bahamas, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019. Hurricane Dorian intensified yet again Sunday as it closed in on the northern Bahamas, threatening to batter islands with Category 5-strength winds, pounding waves and torrential rain. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Ramon Espinosa

Hurricane Dorian pummels Bahamas with Category 4 assault

Hurricane Dorian pummels Bahamas with Category 4 assault

Alex Filipovski of Martin County Fire and Rescue helps evacuee Don Penlonas wheel into an evacuation shelter for people with special needs, in preparation for Hurricane Dorian, at Dr. David L. Anderson middle School in Stuart, Fla., Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019. Some coastal areas are under a mandatory evacuation since the path of the storm is still uncertain. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Gerald Herbert

Hurricane Dorian pummels Bahamas with Category 4 assault

Hurricane Dorian pummels Bahamas with Category 4 assault

Florida Department of Health staffers set up beds at an evacuation shelter for people with special needs, in preparation for Hurricane Dorian, at Dr. David L. Anderson Middle School in Stuart, Fla., Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019. Some coastal areas are under a mandatory evacuation since the path of the storm is still uncertain. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Gerald Herbert

Hurricane Dorian pummels Bahamas with Category 4 assault

Hurricane Dorian pummels Bahamas with Category 4 assault

An evacuee lies on a cot at an evacuation shelter for people with special needs, in preparation for Hurricane Dorian, at Dr. David L. Anderson Middle School in Stuart, Fla., Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019. Some coastal areas are under a mandatory evacuation since the path of the storm is still uncertain. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Gerald Herbert

Hurricane Dorian pummels Bahamas with Category 4 assault

Hurricane Dorian pummels Bahamas with Category 4 assault

A man stands on a store's roof as he works to prepare it for the arrival of Hurricane Dorian in Freeport on Grand Bahama, Bahamas, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019. Hurricane Dorian intensified yet again Sunday as it closed in on the northern Bahamas, threatening to batter islands with Category 5-strength winds, pounding waves and torrential rain. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Ramon Espinosa

The Latest: Dorian weakens to Category 3 hurricane

The Latest: Dorian weakens to Category 3 hurricane

Yolande Rolle puts sandbags at her shop's doorstep as she prepares for the arrival of Hurricane Dorian in Freeport on Grand Bahama, Bahamas, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019. Hurricane Dorian intensified yet again Sunday as it closed in on the northern Bahamas, threatening to batter islands with Category 5-strength winds, pounding waves and torrential rain. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Ramon Espinosa

Hurricane Dorian pummels Bahamas with Category 4 assault

Hurricane Dorian pummels Bahamas with Category 4 assault

A baby sleeps inside a church that was opened up as a shelter for residents who will wait out Hurricane Dorian in Freeport on Grand Bahama, Bahamas, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019. Hurricane Dorian intensified yet again Sunday as it closed in on the northern Bahamas, threatening to batter islands with Category 5-strength winds, pounding waves and torrential rain. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Ramon Espinosa

Hurricane Dorian pummels Bahamas with Category 4 assault

Hurricane Dorian pummels Bahamas with Category 4 assault

How Dorian compares with other hurricanes. ;

Francois Duckett

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

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