It was announced this week that Tropical Storm Dorian had officially become Hurricane Dorian, as it tore a path throughout the ocean seemingly headed directly for Puerto Rico. However, CBS News reports that the potential-Category 3 storm narrowly missed the U.S. commonwealth, which was a major relief for residents.
Now, Dorian is headed toward Florida, with the National Hurricane Center advising for residents to take cover over the next few days as the forecast is “strengthening” and “expected to become a major hurricane” by Friday. The organization adds that if Dorian stays on its current track, it “should move over the Atlantic well east of the southeastern and central Bahamas today and on Friday, and approach the northwestern Bahamas on Saturday.”
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President Donald Trump has since issued comments on the development of Hurricane Dorian in a tweet, writing: “Puerto Rico is in great shape with Hurricane Dorian taking a largely different route than anticipated. Thank you to FEMA, first responders, and all, for working so hard & being so well prepared. A great result! The bad news, Florida get ready! Storm is building and will be BIG!”
“Hurricane Dorian looks like it will be hitting Florida late Sunday night. Be prepared and please follow State and Federal instructions, it will be a very big Hurricane, perhaps one of the biggest!” he added.
#Dorian update: The risk of dangerous storm surge & hurricane-force winds later this week and weekend continues to increase in Central & Northwest Bahamas and along the Florida East Coast.
Residents in these areas should ensure they have their hurricane plan in place. pic.twitter.com/jQNA7oYsdd
โ The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) August 29, 2019
Ahead of the news or Dorian, Florida Sen. Rick Scott added a Hurricane Preparedness section to his website, as a measure for communicating the importance of being prepared for major storms such as this one.
“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.”
“Our state and local communities come together in times of need and work incredibly hard to recover from these storms,” Scott continued. “Florida is resilient because we prepare for storms. I cannot stress this enough: preparedness saves lives.”
Florida state leaders have declared a State of Emergency ahead of Dorian making landfall, but at this time it does not appear that they are calling for evacuation.
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