After devastating the Bahamas, the powerful Hurricane Dorian is slowly bearing down on the United States. Downgraded to category 3, it remains extremely dangerous.
4 September – The extremely slow movement of the hurricane, which remained almost stationary above the Bahamas for dozens of hours, delayed its arrival on the eastern coast of the United States. Impact is now expected today, Wednesday 4 September. The death toll has meanwhile risen to seven.
22:15 – The first aerial images of the devastation caused by Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas are beginning to circulate on social networks. The situation appears catastrophic.
16:35 – Around 61,000 people are in need of immediate assistance in the Bahamas, according to information released by local media. Meanwhile, in the United States the governor of South Carolina has ordered the evacuation of around 800,000 residents. The same decision has been adopted for the coastal areas of Palm Beach and Martin counties in Florida, and for six coastal counties in Georgia.
Tuesday 3 September, 07:45 – The prime minister of the Bahamas, speaking to the press, announced that the confirmed death toll stands at at least 5. Numerous eyewitness accounts have described waves taller than two-storey houses: a devastating toll in terms of material damage is therefore feared.
The hurricane, as expected, has meanwhile been downgraded once again to category 3. What experts had not anticipated is that it remained throughout the night over the western portion of the Caribbean archipelago, slowing its progress even further. It is now moving at a speed lower than that of a walking person: for this reason its arrival in Florida has been delayed further. It is now expected sometime between this evening, Tuesday, and Wednesday morning.
20:30 – Emergency relief operations have been launched in the Bahamas. The announcement was made by the archipelago's authorities.
19:00 – According to the American Red Cross, 19 million people live in the areas of the United States that could be struck by the hurricane. Its arrival in Florida is expected in the early hours of Tuesday. It is estimated that in that state, as well as in Georgia and South Carolina, up to 50,000 people may need shelter.
14:30 – The hurricane is now moving at less than 2 km/h. This means that the damage could be further amplified by the duration of the event. Only by tomorrow morning, Tuesday, is it expected to change course and head northward. For now, it is bearing down on the coast of Florida: it is currently located around sixty kilometres from Palm Beach. The extent of the damage will depend on the precise trajectory the cyclone follows.
14:00 – The Red Cross has drawn up an initial assessment of the damage caused by Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas: "We do not yet have a complete picture of what has happened, but it is clear that we are facing a catastrophe." Around 13,000 homes have been destroyed or damaged. According to Sune Bulow, head of emergency operations at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, shelter, drinking water, healthcare and short-term economic support for the affected population are urgently needed.
9:00 – According to information from the United States National Hurricane Centre (Nhc), Hurricane Dorian is accompanied by winds reaching 295 km/h, with gusts that can reach 350 km/h. This makes it a more powerful event than Gilbert (1988), Wilma (2005) and the Labor Day hurricane of 1935.
Only Allen, in 1980, surpassed it with 305 km/h. For this reason the Nhc expects scenes of devastation in the wake of its passage, which will be compounded by the fact that the eye of the cyclone is now moving very slowly. The hurricane's power has been driven by a combination of factors: humid air, an unstable atmosphere, uniform winds and, above all, an Atlantic Ocean temperature a full two degrees Celsius above average. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktV0f-ZF7lc
Update Sunday 1 September, 16:00 – Hurricane Dorian has reached category 5: the highest on the Saffir-Simpson scale. It is therefore one of the most powerful ever recorded, comparable to Katrina, which devastated New Orleans in 2005, or to Irma and Maria, which struck the Antilles in 2017.
According to information provided by the National Hurricane Centre (Nhc), "the eye of this catastrophic hurricane is about to strike the Abaco Islands in the Bahamas archipelago." It is therefore located approximately 360 kilometres east of Palm Beach, Florida, where it is expected in the early hours of Tuesday.
