This archive report was first published on 2 September 2019.
Category 5 Hurricane Dorian Brings Destruction to the Bahamas ¶
Published on September 2, 2019, at 5:16 PM ET, Hurricane Dorian remained a catastrophic Category 5 storm early Monday morning as it moved over the Bahamas, with winds of 165 miles per hour and gusts of up to 200 miles per hour.
The storm slowed to nearly a halt over Grand Bahama Island, about 120 miles off the coast of Florida, with forecasters predicting that the eye may not reach the Florida coast, but strong winds are all but certain to disrupt life in that region.
As of Monday morning, the hurricane continued to thrash the Bahamas, where residents were left without access to basic necessities like drinking water, and dozens of worried families posted pleas for information about their loved ones on social media.
Forecasters have inched the storm's cone of uncertainty eastward, sparing parts of Orlando from the center of the hurricane's projected path, but officials in South Carolina and Georgia are growing increasingly anxious about the storm's path toward their coastlines.
South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster ordered residents in portions of eight counties to evacuate by noon on Monday, while North Carolina's governor declared a state of emergency, warning of heavy rain and life-threatening flooding.
Florida Power and Light Co. assembled its largest response team ever, with 16,000 employees and contractors ready to respond to outages around the state, as Governor Ron DeSantis warned that coastal residents should expect to lose power.
