This GOES-16 satellite image taken on Friday, August 30, 2019, at 17:30 UTC shows Hurricane Dorian moving over open waters in the Atlantic Ocean. Photo / via AP
This GOES-16 satellite image taken on Friday, August 30, 2019, at 17:30 UTC shows Hurricane Dorian moving over open waters in the Atlantic Ocean. Photo / via AP
The increasingly dire forecast for Hurricane Dorian has Florida residents bracing for what could be the most powerful storm to hit the state's east coast in decades.
US President Donald Trump — whose Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach is in the crosshairs — 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 tweeted video, comparing Dorian to Hurricane Andrew, which obliterated thousands of homes south of Miami with winds topping 266 kph in 1992.
Hurricane Dorian putting on a lightning show tonight.
The National Hurricane Centre said the Category 2 storm was expected to strengthen into a potentially catastrophic Category 4 with winds of almost 225km/h and slam into the US on Tuesday — nearly 16km/h and a day later than previously forecast.
The hurricane centre's projected track showed the storm hitting around Palm Beach County, the site of Mar-a-Lago. But predicting its course with any confidence this far out is so difficult that the "cone of uncertainty" on the map covered nearly all of Florida's 800km coastline. Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando are all within the danger zone.
The probably path of Hurricane Dorian as it heads towards the Bahamas and Florida. Image / National Hurricane Center
Forecasters warned, too, the storm's slow movement could subject the state to a drawn-out pummelling from wind, storm surge and heavy rain.
"If it makes landfall as a Category 3 or 4 hurricane, that's a big deal," University of Miami hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy said.
"A lot of people are going to be affected. A lot of insurance claims."
With the storm's track still unclear, no immediate mass evacuations were ordered.
Along Florida's east coast, local governments began distributing sandbags, shoppers rushed to stock up on food, plywood and other emergency supplies at supermarkets and hardware stores, and motorists topped off their tanks and filled gasoline cans. Some fuel shortages were reported in the Cape Canaveral area.
Josefine Larrauri, a retired translator, went to a Publix supermarket in Miami only to find empty shelves in the water section.
"I feel helpless because the whole coast is threatened," she said.
"What's the use of going all the way to Georgia if it can land there?"
In Vero Beach, about 225km up the coast from Miami, Lauren Harvey, 51, scoured the aisles of a nearby supermarket in search for non-perishable foods that could last her throughout the storm.
Harvey, who works in medical billing, is going through a divorce and recently moved from the Philadelphia-area. She was not sure what to expect and was preparing to spend her first hurricane alone.
"I just moved here, so I'm lost," she said with a blank expression on her face, after grabbing a couple of water bottles from a scantily stocked shelf. "I don't know what I'm going to do."
Matt Rohrer loads sandbags in the back of his vehicle for his home in preparation for Hurricane Dorian. Photo / AP
Feeding on the warm waters in the open ocean, Dorian steamed toward the US after rolling through the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, where it inflicted less damage than feared but was blamed for at least one death.
As of Friday morning, Dorian was centred about 410km northeast of the Bahamas. Its winds had increased slightly to 175km/h and the storm was moving northwest at 19km/h.
Forecasters said it was expected to keep on strengthening and become a Category 3 later in the day. Coastal areas in the Southeast could get 6 to 12 inches of rain, with 15 inches in some places, triggering life-threatening flash floods, the hurricane centre said.
Forecasters warned, too, the storm's slow movement could subject the state to a drawn-out pummelling from wind, storm surge and heavy rain.
Also imperilled were the Bahamas. Dorian's expected track runs just to the north of Great Abaco and Grand Bahama islands.
People shop for supplies before the arrival of Hurricane Dorian, in Freeport, Bahamas yesterday. Forecasters say the hurricane is expected to keep on strengthening to a Category 4. Photo / AP
Jeff Byard, an associate administrator at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, warned Dorian was likely to "create a lot of havoc with infrastructure, power and roads," but gave assurances FEMA was prepared to handle it, even though the Trump administration is shifting hundreds of millions of dollars from FEMA and other agencies to deal with immigration at the Mexican border.
"This is going to be a big storm. We're prepared for a big response," Byard said.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency, clearing the way to bring in more fuel and call out the National Guard if necessary, and Georgia's governor followed suit.
Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Norwegian began rerouting their cruise ships. Major airlines began allowing travellers to change their reservations without a fee.
The hurricane season typically peaks between mid-August and late October. One of the most powerful storms ever to hit the US was on Labor Day 1935. The unnamed Category 5 hurricane crashed ashore along Florida's Gulf Coast on September 2. It was blamed for more than 400 deaths.
