The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
THE CAROLINAS
Even with eye offshore, Dorian inflicts major damage along coast.
■ Hurricane Dorian raked the Carolina coast with howling winds and heavy rain Thursday, spinning off tornadoes and knocking out power to more than 200,000 homes and businesses as it pushed northward toward the Outer Banks. “Get to safety and stay there,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said. “
Hurricane Dorian was pounding much of the Carolina coast with heavy rain and strong winds Thursday, spawning small tornadoes and causing widespread power losses and flooding.
What’s happening
By early Thursday afternoon, the Category 2 storm was about 55 miles from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, as it continues its creep up the East Coast, according to the National Hurricane Center. And while the eye of the storm has so far remained offshore, the center’s models show it could make landfall on the Outer Banks of North Carolina today.
The center of a storm does not have to make landfall to cause serious damage and hurric ane-streng th winds pummeled parts of the South Carolina coast Thursday. The storm’s strongest winds, in the western eye wall, were just 10 to 15 miles offshore. Forecasters said storm surge waters could flood up to 8 feet in some areas.
Dorian’s rain bands were whipping cities from Savannah to Wilmington, North Carolina, and places along the coast could receive as much as 15 inches of rain before the storm departs. Approximately 360,000 South Carolinians have been evacuated. The storm has already knocked out power for nearly 200,000 customers in South Carolina, as well as 9,000 in North Carolina.
Tornadoes, rain
Dorian brought tornadoes to North Myrtle Beach and Little River, South Carolina, said John Quagliariello, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
Tornadoes tend to form in a hur
ricane’s outer bands, which are thin lines of thunderstorms that spiral into the center, said Brian McNoldy, a hurricane researcher at the University of Miami. Abrupt changes in wind speed create an environment for those rotat
ing thunderstorms to become widespread, and some then drop fast-moving tornadoes.
As of early Thursday afternoon, nearly 10 inches of rain had fallen on Pawleys Island, more than 8 inches on Myrtle Beach and up to 7.5 inches in Charleston, all of which Quagliariello warned could increase the risk of flash flooding.
By early Thursday afternoon, Gov. Henry McMaster lifted evacuation orders for three counties along South Carolina’s southern coast — Jasper, Beaufort and Colleton — but cautioned people who live there that they might encounter power losses, downed lines and dangerous flooding upon their return.
The wind began howling and groaning in Charleston around 2 a.m., bending and toppling trees to its will, and downing power lines. By daybreak, it felt as if the storm had fully arrived. Streets were flooding, and Charleston County government officials ordered residents to stay off highspan bridges, given sustained winds of more than 30 mph. City government posted a running online tally of flooded and impassible streets.
The water, however, did not get as high as authorities feared, McMaster said.
What’s next
The strongest winds from Hurricane Dorian are expected to scrape the Outer Banks of North Carolina, with gusts over 100 mph anticipated, depending on the storm’s exact track. Gusts to 100 mph or higher could also occur in Wilmington.
Forecasters said water in Wilmington could rise between 4 and 7 feet in some areas. Many of the neighborhoods along Cape Fear River were expected to flood.