“It’s important for Floridians on the East Coast to monitor this storm closely,” Gov. The Florida Department of Emergency Management on Wednesday said residents should have seven days of supplies ahead of the storm and provided a supply kit checklist. “This rainfall may cause life-threatening flash floods,” the hurricane center said. Regardless of what you call Dorian, it could deluge parts of the coastal US Southeast with 4 to 8 inches of rain, and up to 10 inches in isolated areas, the National Hurricane Center said. If Dorian reaches the US mainland as a Category 3 hurricane, it would hurl winds stronger than 111 mph. It could become a Category 2 hurricane if those winds reach 96 to 110 mph. “Dorian is forecast to strengthen and become a powerful hurricane during the next few days over the Atlantic waters,” the National Hurricane Center said Wednesday afternoon.ĭorian is now a Category 1 hurricane, meaning its maximum sustained winds are between 74 and 95 mph. CNNĭorian is set to hit Puerto Rico on the same coast destroyed by Hurricane Maria As of Monday afternoon, North Carolina and Florida were not projected to experience any inundation.A satellite image shows Tropical Storm Dorian shortly before 2 p.m. With Hurricane Dorian, inundation is forecast as very likely for 9% of dunes in both Georgia and South Carolina. Most of the town was washed away to its foundations. It occurs when beaches and dunes are completely and continuously submerged by water.ĭoran said an example of the damage caused by inundation would be what Hurricane Michael did to Mexico Beach in Florida's Panhandle last October. If there is a bright spot, it may be that the model doesn't predict Dorian will cause widespread inundation, the most severe coastal impact. So, the likelihood increases that the dunes could be overtopped and flooding could occur behind them as they are eroded by wave action." And with Dorian now moving very slowly and forecast to stay offshore and move slowly up the coast, high surge and strong waves are likely to persist over a period of days. "These waves can travel hundreds of miles and begin causing dune erosion well before the storm arrives, on shorelines that are far from the center of the storm. "When hurricanes move slowly and remain at sea for long periods of time, they tend to build up large storm waves," Doran said. Hurricane Dorian's slow slog up the East Coast is expected to cause widespread damage. Twenty-two percent of Florida's beaches face overwash, as do 9% of the sandy beaches in North Carolina. Nearly 60% of the dunes in Georgia and in South Carolina are predicted to be overwashed by the waves and surge from Hurricane Dorian, the USGS said. That highway is often affected by overwashing, another type of damage that occurs when waves and storm surge pick up large amounts of sand and deposit them on roads and farther inland. Highway 12, which runs for 148 miles across the Outer Banks. (MORE: What Is Hurricane Dorian Forecast To Do Next? )īy knowing where erosion might occur or where sand could be washed over roads, emergency managers can make better decisions about which areas to evacuate, which roads to use and where to stage equipment for use after the storm has passed.ĭoran said, for example, North Carolina emergency planners use the information to see what effect a tropical storm or hurricane might have on N.C. The model looks at the geography of beaches along with the National Hurricane Center’s storm surge predictions and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration wave forecast models to come up with the predictions. "Dorian will have a widespread effect on the coastline, all the way up the East Coast," research oceanographer Kara Doran, leader of the USGS Coastal Change Hazards Storm Team, told on Monday.ĭoran and her team use the USGS Coastal Change Forecast model to predict a storm's effect on beaches. Geological Survey coastal change experts say.Īll the sandy beaches in Georgia and South Carolina – where storm surge could reach 6 to 10 feet – are likely to face erosion, while 85% of Florida's beaches and 60% of North Carolina's could see damage from the hurricane, according to a statement from the USGS. Hurricane Dorian is forecast to cause beach and dune erosion on 80 percent of the sandy beaches from Florida to North Carolina, U.S.
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