Hurricane Dorian—now a Category 1 storm—lost some of its punch overnight but hit parts of North Carolina and Virginia, inflicting dangerous winds, flash flooding, and storm surges.
Now the storm “is continuing to produce wind gusts near hurricane-force across portions of eastern North Carolina,” the Weather Channel reported. Dorian is now classified as a “high end Category 1 storm.”
The center said significant, life-threatening flash flooding is expected across the eastern Carolinas and far southeast Virginia.
“Dorian should remain a powerful hurricane as it moves near or along the coast of North Carolina during the next several hours,” the center said in a public advisory issued at 5 a.m. Friday. The storm is forecast to become “a post-tropical cyclone with hurricane-force winds” as it approaches Nova Scotia, Canada, by Saturday night.
The Category 1 storm is producing maximum sustained winds of 90 mph.
“An observation in Cedar Island, North Carolina, recently reported a sustained wind of 65 mph and a wind gust of 96 mph,” the center said in a statement.
“A Weatherflow station at North River, North Carolina, recently reported a sustained wind of 58 mph and a wind gust of 7 mph,” the center said, adding, “another Weatherflow station at Ocracoke, North Carolina, recently reported a sustained wind of 49 mph and a wind gust of 63 mph.”
On Thursday, Dorian sideswiped the Carolinas with shrieking winds, tornadoes, and sideways rain. Twisters spun off by Dorian peeled away roofs and flipped trailers.
“We have a long night ahead of us. Everyone needs to stay in a safe place and off the roads until the storm passes,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said late Thursday.
As of 6 a.m. Friday, the storm was 20 miles northeast of Cape Lookout, North Carolina, and about 55 miles west-southwest of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. It was moving 14 mph north-northeast.
Currently, there are hurricane warnings for the area from Little River Inlet to the North Carolina-Virginia border as well as for Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds.
As Dorian 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.
Tybee Island, Georgia, population 3,000, came through the storm without flooding. “If the worst that comes out of this is people blame others for calling evacuations, then that’s wonderful,” Mayor Jason Buelterman said.
By midday Thursday, coastal residents in Georgia and some South Carolina counties were allowed to go 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.