A new hurricane has officially been announced, and its name has been revealed, as Tropical Storm Dorian has now been relabeled Hurricane Dorian. NBC weatherman Al Roker shared the news on social media, while also adding graphics that reveal the projected path for the major storm. Currently, Dorian is only a Category 1 hurricane, with winds of around 75 miles per hour. On its currently projected path, it will move on from Puerto Rico, missing Hispaniola and Cube, and then hit portions of the Bahamas.
From here it will potentially reach Category 2 level strength. Finally, it would hit Florida on Sunday, having reached a Category 3. The National Hurricane Center has also issued a statement on the developments revealing that “tropical-storm-force winds from [Dorian] could begin in parts of Florida *as early as* Saturday or Saturday night.”
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“Now is the time to begin thinking about what kinds of preparations you might need to make over the next couple of days,” the organization added.
#BreakingNews itโs now #HurricaneDorian We are tracking in the @NBCNews #WeatherCenter and the latest on @NBCNewsNow @msnbc and @NBCNightlyNews pic.twitter.com/EKvVPQuIDn
โ Al Roker (@alroker) August 28, 2019
Florida Sen. Rick Scott has since added a Hurricane Preparedness section to his website.
“This hurricane season, I urge all Floridians to take the time to make sure that their families and businesses are prepared for a storm,” he wrote. “Throughout my eight years as Governor, I saw firsthand the destruction left behind by multiple devastating hurricanes โ Michael, Irma, Hermine, Matthew. If there is one thing I learned, it’s that Florida is resilient.”
WEDNESDAY 2PM UPDATE:
โ Tom Nebel (@tomnebel) August 28, 2019
Dorian has now become a hurricane near St. Thomas in the U. S. Virgin Islands and is expected to continue to strengthen. The storm is expected to make landfall as a category 3 and Florida still may be in the path of this storm. #HurricaneDorian #wftv pic.twitter.com/DKs1uM9crT
“Our state and local communities come together in times of need and work incredibly hard to recover from these storms,” Scott added.
“Florida is resilient because we prepare for storms. I cannot stress this enough: preparedness saves lives,” Scott concluded his initial message.
๐130pm – GOES-East Satellite imagery of Hurricane #Dorian near St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands this afternoon.
๐ฐ๏ธ Want to view more Hurricane Dorian satellite imagery? Check out this link: https://t.co/HW8dx3FORL pic.twitter.com/aack7HDYmS
โ NWS Mobile (@NWSMobile) August 28, 2019
Scott and other state leaders are urging all Floridians to prepare for the storm, but at this time it does not appear that they are calling for evacuation.
Photo Credit: Getty Images