Inching along at just 1 mph and with its eye “wobbling,” Hurricane Dorian continued to pound the Bahamas early Monday on its path toward the US, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The center of the Category 5 monster was about 35 miles east-northeast of Freeport on Grand Bahama and some 120 miles east of West Palm Beach, Florida, around 6 a.m.
The crawling storm was packing top sustained winds of 165 mph — a dip from its earlier 185 mph, but still a Cat 5 and producing gusts of 200 mph.
“Although gradual weakening is forecast, Dorian is expected to remain a powerful hurricane during the next couple of days,” the NHC said.
According to the center’s latest advisory, Dorian’s track edged farther east, keeping Florida’s Broward and western Palm Beach counties out of range of its center.
But its outer bands are expected to whip up winds in those areas later Monday morning, with sustained winds of 40 to 50 mph possible.
The hurricane center warned Floridians not to be lulled into a false sense of security because of the storm’s expected path.
“Although the official forecast does not show Dorian making landfall along the Florida east coast, it is still possible for the hurricane to deviate from this forecast, and move very near or over the coast,” the NHC said in its 5 a.m. update.
“The hurricane will move dangerously close to the Florida east coast tonight through Wednesday evening,” it added.
“Slow weakening is forecast, but fluctuations in intensity could occur [for a] couple of days,” the alert continued. “Regardless, Dorian is expected to remain a powerful hurricane during the next few days.”
Forecasters said Dorian should begin to stall before heading north — even with the expected turn, strong winds and torrential rains are likely to be felt.
“It just takes a little wiggle, a little movement, a little jog, and then all of a sudden you’re a little closer to the coast,” NHC director Ken Graham said.
“You can still see a situation where this moves right up the coast or maybe a little bit inland and that’s going to cause a lot of damage from hurricane force winds … and storm surge,” he added. “We need everybody to be ready.”
Dorian now ranks as one of the strongest Atlantic hurricane landfalls on record, tied with the 1935 Labor Day hurricane, according to the Sun-Sentinel.
The only recorded storm that was more powerful was 1980’s Hurricane Allen, which had 190-mph winds, but did not make landfall at that strength.
Most potential tracks still show Dorian remaining at sea and aimed at the Carolinas.
Earlier, the storm churned over Abaco Island in the Bahamas with battering winds and surf.
There was little information from the affected islands, though officials expected many residents to be left homeless.
Most residents went to shelters as the storm approached, with hotels shutting down and people boarding up their homes.
“It’s devastating,” Joy Jibrilu, director general of the Bahamas’ Ministry of Tourism and Aviation, said late Sunday. “There has been huge damage to property and infrastructure. Luckily, no loss of life reported.”
Forecasters said Dorian was most likely to begin pulling away from the Bahamas early Tuesday.
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.
“We can’t make everybody happy, but we believe we can keep everyone alive,” McMaster said.
A few hours later, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp also ordered mandatory evacuations for that state’s Atlantic coast starting at midday Monday.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, Dorian is forecast to be 40 to 50 miles off Florida, with hurricane-force wind speeds extending about 35 miles to the west.
Julia Eaddy, 70, in Titusville, Florida, said she and her husband had ridden out several hurricanes before and were not fazed by the forecast.
“I think it will be more of the same,” she told Reuters.
With Post wires