Hurricane Dorian slowly stormed up the Southeast coast of the United States on Thursday, spitting out tornadoes, stirring up powerful waves and storm surge and unleashing heavy rain. At one point, Dorian's eye made it as close as 30 miles from Cape Fear, North Carolina.
As Dorian wobbled closer to landfall in the Carolinas, the hurricane remained an extremely dangerous storm despite weakening once again to Category 2 strength after it had regained major hurricane status late Wednesday.
The storm's damaging impacts were felt up and down the region on Thursday, with significant flooding reported in Charleston and at least nine preliminary reports of tornadoes in North Carolina. Power outages increased as winds picked up speed, with nearly 190,000 customers without power in South Carolina as of Thursday evening, according to PowerOutage.US.
The frenzy of tornadic activity came during the early-morning hours in southeastern North Carolina. The twisters resulted in numerous damage reports as the region continued to be pelted by Dorian's increasing winds, heavy rain and storm surge. There was no immediate word on injuries or fatalities.
Video from Carolina Shores, North Carolina, showed homes ripped apart, RVs tossed on their sides and numerous trees uprooted.
The destruction in the Carolinas was just the latest in the notorious storm's devastating history, which goes back to when the hurricane left historic and catastrophic damage in the northern Bahamas earlier this week , causing at least 30 deaths. Officials in the Bahamas expect the death toll to continue to increase.
Elsewhere, Dorian's high winds, flooding and storm surge were the main impacts. A Twitter video shared by Rob Way, a news reporter for Live 5 News, the CBS affiliate in Charleston, showed live power lines sparking flames in flooded streets near the Charleston City Market. Way said the explosions from the power lines could be heard blocks away.
As of 8 p.m. EDT Thursday, Dorian was located about 30 miles south of Cape Fear, North Carolina, and was moving northeast at around 10 mph.
In Wilmington, North Carolina, which was pounded by Hurricane Florence's deluge in 2018, water levels were rising on beaches as high tide approached. AccuWeather Digital Journalist Chaffin Dos Santos is in Wilmington and has been reporting on the storm's worsening impacts as it gets closer to the city.
Dorian's lifespan is expected to last into the weekend, as it is forecast to pound areas of the Northeast coast then accelerate to the north where it will make landfall in Atlantic Canada.
Four deaths have been reported on the U.S. mainlands, three in Florida and one in North Carolina. Both were male victims who were preparing for the storm, according to the Associated Press. In addition, the death of an 80-year-old man was reported in Puerto Rico after falling from a ladder while climbing the roof of his residence to clean the drains as part of the preparations prior to the passage of the now Hurricane Dorian.
(Twitter/@NWSMoreheadCity)
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The National Weather Service identified a waterspout off the coast of Emerald Isle, North Carolina, on Thursday morning, Sept. 5, 2019, as Dorian skirted along the southeastern U.S. coast.
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8 p.m. EDT Thursday:
The eyewall of Hurricane Dorian has tracked about 30 miles south of Cape Fear, North Carolina with maximum sustained winds of 100 mph.
7 p.m. EDT Thursday:
The death toll in the Bahamas has risen to 23, according to the New York Times, as rescue efforts continue. This number is likely to continue to rise in the coming days and possibly weeks.
6:40 p.m. EDT Thursday:
A tropical storm warning has been issued for Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, Massachusetts, due to the anticipated impacts from Dorian. The hurricane is forecast to pick up speed as it tracks up the coast of the eastern United States, grazing coastal areas of the Northeast.
5:30 p.m. EDT Thursday:
The National Hurricane Center said Dorian's sustained wind speeds dropped to 105 mph early Thursday evening, and its forward speed accelerated to 10 mph as the storm churned south-southeast of Myrtle Beach.
5:15 p.m. EDT Thursday:
That Jeep is not going to make it! The vehicle got stuck in the Myrtle Beach surf as Hurricane Dorian hit the Carolinas. Authorities found the car locked and abandoned, but there is not much they can do due to the bad weather conditions.
5:00 p.m. EDT Thursday:
Duke Energy, which provides power across the southeastern U.S., announced Thursday it shut down both reactors at its Brunswick Nuclear Power Plant in North Carolina, in advance of Dorian's strongest winds.
4:30 p.m. EDT Thursday:
After Dorian pulled out of Florida, hot air came rushing in. Check out some of the AccuWeather RealFeel temps across the state -- 105 in Tallahassee, 101 in Miami, 102 in St. Augustine, and 101 in Melbourne.
4:15 p.m. EDT Thursday:
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper urged citizens who feel impacts from Dorian to stay home and stay safe. At the moment, the state has activated 527 members of the North Carolina National Guard and has opened 68 shelters, which had more than 2,200 people in them.
3:30 p.m. EDT Thursday:
"From calm winds and birds flying in the eye to near blackout conditions," said NOAA about one of their buoys, which is now in the southern eye wall of Dorian. The images speak for themselves:
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3:00 p.m. EDT Thursday:
South Carolina Secretary of Transportation, Christy A. Hall, informed some of the strategies implemented by the state to mitigate the impact of Dorian in the region:
2:30 p.m. EDT Thursday:
“We are calling for voluntary evacuation for those areas of the city that traditionally are impacted by mayor northeastern storms, northeasters and tropical storms…,” said in a press conference Tom Leahy, Virginia Beach Interim City Manager, as he announces a mandatory evacuation for citizens in Sandbridge effective 6 p.m. on Thursday.
BREAKING: Virginia Beach Interim City Manager Tom Leahy announces a mandatory evacuation for citizens in Sandbridge effective 6 p.m. on Thursday. Voluntary evacuations are in order for all VB citizens in Zone A. wavy.com/hurricane#HurricaneDorian #TrackingDorian
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2 p.m. EDT Thursday:
FUN FACT ALERT 🚨: When a hurricane approaches, all air traffic deviates from the storm, except hurricane hunters from NOAA and the Air Force Reserve.
When a hurricane approaches, all air traffic is diverted away from the storm except for the @NOAA_HurrHunter and @53rdWRS hurricane hunters!
Image from Tuesdays flight shows @NOAA_AOML scientists and #NOAA42 crew heading for the eye of #Dorian to help keep those on land safe.
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1:45 p.m. EDT Thursday:
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced on its Twitter page that approximately $18 million is being assigned to cover regional activation, temporary emergency power, temporary housing, and temporary roofing , among other issues that are related to the Dorian emergency.
12:37 p.m. EDT Thursday:
Over 250,000 residents in South Carolina are now without power due to Hurricane Dorian, according to poweroutage.us.
Over 10,000 others in Georgia and Florida also find themselves without power.
According to Santee Cooper, a company that provides electricity to customers in Berkley, Georgetown and Horry counties, utility crews were forced to scale back recovery efforts as heavy winds picked up.
12:22 p.m. EDT Thursday:
In North Carolina, police criminally charged numerous people for not following mandatory evacuation orders, according to Wrightsville Beach Police Chief Dan House. Numerous areas of the city were heavily damaged today by a tornado touching down at the Boardwalk RV Park.
Heavy rain, tornado warnings and flash flood warnings have inundated the area. Flood concerns are particularly notable for areas around Horry County, where river flooding is a likely danger.
Wilmington, NC is getting hammered with damaging winds and rain from #Dorian. We still have power, but it is starting to flicker on and off. I have never seen so much lightning and thunder with a hurricane before, it’s definitely a unique storm. @breakingweather @accuweather
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11:09 a.m. EDT Thursday:
Hurricane Dorian weakened back down to a Category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph and continued to move north-northeast at 8 mph. NOAA satellites captured imagery of how close the eye came to Charleston, South Carolina -- just 50 miles.
UPDATE: Here’s a close-up animation of NOAA’s #GOES16 satellite using its 1-km visible band to track the large eye of #HurricaneDorian as it spins just 50 miles away from #Charleston, #SC. Get the latest on #Dorian: @NHC_Atlantic #scwx #ncwx
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11:05 a.m. EDT Thursday:
There have been 10 tornadoes reported on South Carolina and North Carolina over the past 24 hours as Hurricane Dorian closed in. Tornado watches remained in place for all coastal regions in both states.
10:25 a.m. EDT Thursday:
At Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, a 74 mph wind gust was recently recorded. Elsewhere in the city, Church Creek is nearly at minor flood stage while the city's downtown finds itself under water, forcing dozens of road closures.
For a list of older storm reports, click here for Wednesday reports and here for Tuesday reports.
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