Hurricane Dorian continues East Coast path after hitting Bahamas

Hurricane Dorian is continuing its path up the East Coast.

The Category 1 storm hit Cape Hatteras, N.C., Friday morning with maximum sustained winds close to 90 mph, CNN reported according to the National Hurricane Center. 

According to The Washington Post, Hurricane Dorian has been named for 13 days as of Friday, making it part of fewer than 10% of hurricanes that have lasted this long. Dorian first hit the U.S. Virgin Islands, then the northern Bahamas before slightly hitting Florida and Georgia on its way up the East coast. 

Dorian sat over the northwestern Bahamas for 40 hours, where it was a Category 5 storm. As of Friday morning, parts of Grand Abaco, where Dorian came ashore with a “deadly” storm surge, are still only reachable by helicopter or small watercrafts, according to NPR. 

Krystel Brown of The Nassau Guardian told NPR the storm surge was about 20 ft. As of Friday morning, the death toll in the Bahamas was at 30 with an expected increase, according to NPR. 

Though its impact on the U.S. was less, the storm still dumped 10 in. of rain, caused areas of coastal and inland flooding as well as tornadoes and wind gusts up to 50 to 80 mph, The Washington Post said. 

With the wind, Dorian caused overnight flooding in some parts of the Carolinas and caused numerous tornadoes. For North Carolina, the National Weather Service predicted up to 2 in. of rainfall per hour in eastern North Carolina and southeast Virginia. The rain will end in Wilmington N.C. which is predicted to receive approximately 10 in., according to The Washington Post. 

“Life-threatening storm surge and dangerous winds are expected to continue along portions of the North Carolina coast, portions of southeast Virginia and the southern Chesapeake Bay,” the National Hurricane Center wrote Friday morning according to The Washington Post. “Flash flooding is occurring, and will continue to become more widespread across the eastern Carolinas and far southeast Virginia this morning.”

This weekend, Dorian is heading for the Mid-Atlantic, southeast New England and the Candian Maritimes where it is predicted to be a powerful post-tropical storm, according to The Washington Post. 

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