Hurricane Dorian’s fury grazes the Carolina coast
Storm takes aim at Outer Banks for possible landfall
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Hurricane Dorian sideswiped the Carolinas with shrieking winds, tornadoes and sideways rain Thursday as it closed in for a possible direct hit on the dangerously exposed Outer Banks. At least four deaths in the Southeast were blamed on the storm.
Twisters spun off by Dorian peeled away roofs and flipped trailers, and more than 250,000 homes and businesses were
Maryland’s weather
left without power as the hurricane pushed north along the coastline, its winds weakening to 105 mph by evening. Trees and power lines littered flooded streets in Charleston’s historic downtown. Gusts topping 80 mph hit some areas.
The damage from the same storm that mauled the Bahamas was mercifully light in many parts of South Carolina and Georgia as well, and by midafternoon many of the 1.5 million people who had been forced to evacuate in three states were allowed to return.
Still, forecasters warned that Dorian could run straight over North Carolina’s Outer Banks — the thin line of islands that stick out from the U.S. coast — late Thursday or early Friday. The trajectory was expected to produce what the
“We have a long night ahead of us. Everyone needs to stay in a safe place and off the roads until the storm passes.”
National Hurricane Center called lifethreatening storm surge in the Outer Banks, where 4 to 7 feet of water could wash across the barrier island from two directions.
To the north, Virginia was also in harm’s way, and a round of evacuations was ordered there.
“We have a long night ahead of us. Everyone needs to stay in a safe place and off the roads until the storm passes,” said North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper.
After leaving at least 20 people dead when it slammed the Bahamas with 185 mph winds, Dorian swept past Florida at a relatively safe distance, grazed Georgia, and then hugged the South CarolinaNorth Carolina coastline.
“I think we’re in for a great big mess,” said 61-year-old Leslie Lanier, who decided to stay behind and boarded up her home and bookstore on Ocracoke Island on the Outer Banks, making sure to move the volumes 5 to 6 feet off the ground.
The National Hurricane Center forecast as much as 15 inches of rain for the coastal Carolinas, with flash-flooding likely.
In Charleston, a historic port city of handsome antebellum homes on a peninsula that is prone to flooding even from ordinary storms, Dorian toppled about 150 trees, swamped roads and brought down power lines, officials said, but the flooding and wind weren’t nearly as bad as feared.
Dorian apparently spawned at least one tornado in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, damaging several homes, and another twister touched down in the beach town of Emerald Isle, North Carolina, mangling and overturning several trailer homes in a jumble of sheet metal. No immediate injuries were reported.
In coastal Wilmington, North Carolina, just above the South Carolina line, heavy rain fell horizontally, trees bent in the wind and traffic lights swayed as the hurricane drew near.
The four deaths attributed to the storm took place in Florida and North Carolina. All of them involved men who died in falls or by electrocution while trimming trees, putting up storm shutters or otherwise getting ready for the storm.
At 8 p.m., the National Hurricane Center said the storm was about 30 miles south of Cape Fear, North Carolina,. Forecasters said the Category 2 storm has maximum sustained winds of 100 mph and was moving northeast at 10 mph.
As it closed in on the Eastern Seaboard, Navy ships were ordered to ride out the storm at sea, and military aircraft were moved inland. More than 700 airline flights scheduled for Thursday and Friday were canceled. And hundreds of shelter animals were airlifted from coastal South Carolina to Delaware.
By midday Thursday, coastal residents in Georgia and some South Carolina counties were allowed to go back home.
Still, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster warned of new dangers ahead.
“Don’t be surprised if there was water in your home, you might have animals, snakes. You don’t know what might be in there, so be very careful as you return,” he said.
In the Bahamas, search-and-rescue operations and an international humanitarian effort to help the victims picked up speed Thursday, with emergency officials fanning out across the stricken areas and tracking down people who were missing or in distress. Crews began clearing streets and setting up distribution centers for food and water.
A British Royal Navy ship docked in the Abaco islands distributed supplies to hurricane survivors. The United Nations announced the purchase of 8 tons of ready-to-eat meals and said it will provide satellite communications equipment and airlift storage units, generators and prefab offices to set up logistics hubs for helping the estimated 76,000 people who will need food and other relief.
Crews in Grand Bahama worked to reopen the airport and used heavy equipment to pick up branches and palm fronds. Lines formed outside gas stations and grocery stores.
The Washington Post contributed.