Hurricane Dorian Has Florida Residents Ramping up, and These Photos Prove It

As Hurricane Dorian bears down on the south-east, Florida residents are hunkering down for what may be the worst storm they have seen in almost three decades. In the anticipation, social media has filled with some of the most sad, strange and even hilarious photos ever to come out of the Sunshine State.

Hurricane Dorian is currently a Category 4 storm, according to the latest report by CBS News. Some models still project it could reach Category 5 before it is done, while others predict it will fall to a Category 3 or even 2.

Whatever the case, it is clearly not a storm to be taken lightly. Floridians are not overlooking it.

Residents are already reporting shortages of gasoline, food and other supplies around Florida. Some are also reporting widespread price-gouging, accusing stores and retailers of taking advantage of desperation. Photos from inside shops show large, panicked crowds.

All of this comes days before the hurricane is even set to land, if it does at all. On Saturday, experts reported that Hurricane Dorian may only graze Florida, passing by on its way up to Georgia or South Carolina, where it will make landfall some time on Monday night or Tuesday morning.

Of course, even if this is the case, Florida will not escape unscathed. Most projections show the storm coming close enough to wreak havoc on the peninsula, while still drawing water from the ocean. Only time will tell how everything shakes out. In the meantime, here are some photos from Florida as the state prepares for the impact of Hurricane Dorian.

Message in the Sand

On Saturday afternoon, one beach-goer shared their message to Hurricane Dorian written in the sand. They had traced the words “GO AWAY DORIAN!!!” into the shoreline, perhaps hoping to deter the storm with strong words. As funny as this attempt was, it does not seem to have impacted the projections just yet.

Sandbags

The police in Pasco, Florida organized help for the elderly and disable in their community on Saturday afternoon to make sure everyone was prepare for the storm. A small squadron of Jeep Wranglers delivered sandbags to local homes, hopefully ensuring that homes will be secure and flood-free.

Flight Path

One air traffic expert shared a humorous look at the flight traffic over the weekend, revealing the impact Hurricane Dorian has already had on travelers. Though it did not show the storm itself, the flight app had a clear circular gap where planes were skirting around Dorian.

Fireworks

In the face of disaster, people find different ways to cope, and for some Floridians, it did not actually look that different from celebrating. As the storm closed in, one user shared a clip of fireworks going off in their neighborhood, with people apparently trying th blow off steam before the water came in.

Snack Time

As always with natural disasters, Floridians knew that there was a strong chance stores would be closed and supplies would be limited. Many people posted proud photos of their stashes, though these varied widely from household to household, and showed off their alcohol provisions, expecting to wait out the storm in style.

Meanwhile, a whole genre of meme rose up around the fact that some people were too impatient to wait for the storm once they had all those groceries in the house. This was exacerbated by the storm’s slow pace, which baffled meteorologists.

Abandoned Public Places

Over the weekend, there were many eerie photos of public places left abandoned. This notably included Disney World and other theme parks as well as sports arenas, as people were not in the mood to pack into tight quarters given the forecast.

Strange Sights

The storm brought some strange sights out into the open this weekend, especially on the road, where people were fleeing the coast if they could. One tweet showed a giant pineapple on the highway, joking that even Spongebob Squarepants was trying to get away from Hurricane Dorian.

Gasoline

The scramble to collect fuel while they could led some Floridians to desperate measures, including one woman who was pictured filling household buckets with gasoline.

Elsewhere, people were met with “sold out” signs on gas pumps as early as Friday, and many complained about price-gouging. There are laws in place to prevent this, but in the scramble of the storm, it can be hard for authorities to crack down.

Shortages

Gas was not the only thing in short supply around Florida this weekend. Many people posted photos of empty grocery stories, empty pharmacies and empty restaurants. The whole community was battering down the hatches, and for some this was even more scary than the swirling grey lines on the weather report.

Latest Projection

Lastly, it’s worth looking at a GIF of the latest projections for Dorian’s track along the south-eastern coast. Meteorologists now speculate that Dorian could side-step Florida all together, curving up to hit Georgia, South Carolina or even North Carolina. Along the way, it would undoubtedly bring stormy conditions and huge swells to these coastal communities, but the eye of the storm itself might not reach land until much farther north.

Along the way, the storm could lose strength as well. Some experts even hope to see it fall as low as a Category 2, giving the place where it lands a much better chance at weathering its effects.

Stay tuned for updates on Hurricane Dorian in the coming days.