Hurricane Dorian fast facts
- Hurricane Dorian made landfall over Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, on Friday morning.
- The Category 1 storm is expected to move northeast away from the U.S. through Saturday and become a post-tropical cyclone with hurricane-force winds as it approaches eastern Canada.
- Hurricane-force winds are expected in portions of Nova Scotia by late Saturday
- Nearly 350,000 residents and businesses were without power in North and South Carolina.
- The hurricane decimated parts of the Bahamas for 48 hours, killing at least 30 people. Officials expect that number to rise dramatically.
Hurricane Dorian is headed out to sea on Friday and may skirt the coast of New England this weekend. Hundreds who refused to evacuate Ocracoke Island were stranded when the Category 1 storm slammed into the Outer Banks Friday morning, with 90 mph winds.
In the Bahamas, there are 76,000 people in need of aid, including survivors with medical needs, pregnant women and children are a priority to evacuate.
As of 11 p.m., ET, Dorian’s core was about 200 miles south-southwest of Nantucket, Massachusetts and 550 miles southwest of Halifax, Nova Scotia. The storm was moving northeast at 25 mph with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph.
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Hurricane-force winds extended outward up to 80 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extended outward up to 230 miles.
Follow live coverage of the storm below.
Dorian headed to Nova Scotia “in a hurry”
Hurricane Dorian is headed for Nova Scotia “in a hurry,” according to the 11 p.m. ET Friday advisory from the National Hurricane Center. The storm is moving northeast at a pace of about 25 mph and could bring hurricane-force winds to parts of Nova Scotia by late Saturday.
Nova Scotia could get up to 7 inches of rain in isolated sections, while parts of southeastern New England and Maine could also experience some rainfall. Tropical storm conditions, including winds, could also hit the region.
”There’s nothing I could save”
CBS News saw long lines of people waiting for food and water on Grand Bahama island Friday. The crew also witnessed the devastation left behind by Dorian.
For Kenneth Knowles and his family, taking an overnight ferry home to Freeport was bittersweet. “We did suffer catastrophic damage at our business so we’re now going home to try to see what’s there,” he said.
They were aboard a vessel carrying desperately needed humanitarian aid to those hardest hit by the storm. As soon as CBS News arrived and ventured through Freeport, there were people lined up for hours in hopes of getting ice and water.
Brenda Suberallen rode out the storm in Freeport and came back to her uprooted home to salvage what she could. “There’s nothing I could save really, not a thing,” she said.
The further east, the worse it gets. Then, the only highway across the island, ends. The main highway out of Freeport has been completely devastated. A lot of people left their vehicles behind on the side of the road. That’s one reason why it’s so challenging to get aid through the country.
Keeno Lettice and his father are trying to make contact with friends they haven’t spoken with since the storm. But seeing the state of the road, they turned back.
— Errol Barnett reports from Grand Bahama island
Crews rescue stranded residents in North Carolina
A rescue is underway along the coast of North Carolina. Hundreds who refused to evacuate Ocracoke Island were stranded when Dorian slammed into the Outer Banks Friday morning.
Late Friday afternoon, the first chopper took off for Ocracoke once winds subsided to rescue the nearly 800 people trapped there. Dorian’s howling winds, torrents of rain and surging seas caught many of the hurricane hardened residents of the island by surprise.
“All of this has happened in a few minutes. It’s coming into the house. It’s coming in under the door,” one homeowner said.
People who defied a mandatory evacuation order got caught in a storm surge of up to seven feet and were forced to higher ground.
“The water levels rose so quickly literally I would say within 30 minutes we had four feet of water and it kept rising,” said Benny Lacks.
Those who were able to, left by boat.
— Omar Villafranca
76,000 people in need of aid in Bahamas
“CBS Evening News” landed at what’s now a shelter for survivors who have been waiting in terminal seats for days. Most are now homeless. Maxine Ferguson and her two teenage sons have been sleeping on a makeshift bed. “Abaco has always been my home,” she said.
Her home was 15 miles away. The hotel where she works is gone, too.
“If there’s nothing here, we can’t work, we can’t make money. We can’t pay bills, we can’t do nothing. I would love to come back, it hurts me to leave. But my kids,” Ferguson said.
As they wait, a group of Abacos residents wait lined up. There are 76,000 people who need aid, including survivors with medical needs, pregnant women and children are a priority to evacuate.
A few hours after CBS News met Ferguson, she was told a plane was coming for her. She wants to get to Nassau where she has family. But she said, like so many in the Bahamas, she has no home insurance and no means to rebuild.
— Nikki Battiste reports from Nassau
Watches and warnings in effect
A summary of watches and warnings in effect, via the National Hurricane Center.
- Storm surge warning: Salter Path, North Carolina, to the North Carolina-Virginia border; Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds
- Hurricane warning: Eastern Nova Scotia from Lower East Pubnico to Avonport
- Hurricane watch: Southwestern Nova Scotia from Avonport to north of Lower East Punico; Prince Edward Island, Magdalen Islands; Southwestern Newfoundland from Parson’s Pond to Indian Harbour
- Tropical storm warning: Woods Hole to Sagamore Beach, Massachusetts; Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts; East of Bar Harbor to Eastport, Maine; Prince Edward Island; Southwestern Nova Scotia from Avonport to north of Lower East Pubnico; Fundy National Park to Shediac
- Tropical storm watch: Parson’s Pond to Triton; Indian Harbour to Stone’s Cove
A hurricane warning means hurricane conditions were expected. A hurricane watch means hurricane conditions were possible.
A tropical storm warning means tropical storm conditions were expected within 36 hours. A tropical storm watch means tropical storm conditions were possible within 36 hours.
A storm surge warning means there was a danger of life-threatening rising water moving inland within 36 hours. A storm surge watch means there was a possibility of life-threatening rising water within 48 hours.
Floodwaters trap people in attics in North Carolina
Dorian flooded homes on North Carolina’s Outer Banks on Friday with a fury that took even storm-hardened residents by surprise, forcing people to retreat to their attics. Hundreds were feared trapped by high water, and neighbors used boats to rescue one another.
Sheriff’s officials rushed medics and other rescuers to Ocracoke Island — accessible only by boat or air — to reach those who made the mistake of defying mandatory evacuation orders along the 200-mile ribbon of low-lying islands that stick out from the Eastern Seaboard like the side-view mirror on a car. “There is significant concern about hundreds of people trapped on Ocracoke Island,” Governor Roy Cooper said.
Longtime residents said that they had never seen flooding so bad, or that things that had never flooded before were inundated. “The wall of water just came rushing through the island from the sound side. And it just started looking like a bathtub, very quickly,” said Steve Harris, who has lived on Ocracoke Island for most of the last 19 years. “We went from almost no water to 4 to 6 feet in a matter of minutes.”
Harris said people were getting around the island by boat, and authorities were using military vehicles to reach those stranded. He said he was fortunate to live on the third floor of a condo building but lost his car to the storm.
Bookshop owner Leslie Lanier said via text message that the first floors of some homes had flooded and people had been forced to climb to their attics, but that the water had already begun to drop. “We are flooding like crazy,” she said, adding: “I have been here 32 years and not seen this.”
—The Associated Press
Officials urged to “show your faces” in the Bahamas
A volunteer firefighter in the Bahamas called on government officials to come to the remote islands hit by Dorian. “People are getting violent, angry, upset, and we’re trying to get our government officials- if you guys do see this, please come down here and show your faces,” Greg Johnson told CBS News on Treasure Cay.
“We need you guys to show your faces here, so the people can understand and know that you guys care,” Johnson said. “At this point in time, we are on our own, and the U.S. is the only place that is helping us.”
Renowned chef José Andrés has been delivering food to people through his nonprofit organization, World Central Kitchen. Andrés told CBS News he asked Bahamian authorities where they’d like him to go, and he didn’t receive a response.
—David Begnaud
New York City beaches to close due to rip tides from Dorian
New York City beaches will be closed to swimming and surfing Friday and Saturday due to the dangerous rip tides from Dorian, the city’s Parks Department said Thursday. Swells of up to 10 feet are expected, CBS New York reported.
New York City beaches will close for the season on September 8.
New Jersey’s Governor Phil Murphy on Thursday said residents in the Garden State should also stay off the beaches as the storms moves up the east coast.
Canadian Hurricane Center issues watches and warnings
The Canadian Hurricane Center has issued a hurricane warning for eastern Nova Scotia from Hubbards to Avonport. Hurricane watches were issued for southwestern Nova Scotia from Avonport to Hubbards, Prince Edward Island, the Magdalen Islands and southwestern Newfoundland from Parson’s Pond to Indian Harbour.
Tropical storm warnings were issued for Prince Edward Island and southwestern Nova Scotia from Avonport to Hubbards. Tropical storm watches were issued from Fundy National Park to Shediac, from Boat Harbour to Parson’s Pond and from Indian Harbour to Stone’s Cove.
Jeep stranded in Atlantic Ocean in Myrtle Beach
An abandoned Jeep is being pounded by waves in the Atlantic Ocean in Myrtle Beach as Dorian lashes the area, CBS Wilmington affiliate WWAY reported.
Myrtle Beach Police told WWAY they were notified about the stuck vehicle this morning. Authorities found the car locked and abandoned on the beach but because of weather condition, it isn’t safe to remove the vehicle.
Myrtle Beach Police posted on Facebook that they are aware and working with their team to develop a plan to remove it, but it is not safe at this time.
Death toll in Bahamas rises to at least 30
Speaking to CNN late Thursday, the Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said the death toll has risen to 30.
Dorian slammed Abaco Islands in the northern Bahamas. There was widespread devastation to the harbor, shops, workplaces, a hospital and airport landing strips, hampering rescue efforts.
Chef José Andrés is bringing thousands of meals to the Bahamas
Chef José Andrés, whose World Central Kitchen delivers meals after natural disasters, has taken his mission to a remote island cut off by Hurricane Dorian. CBS News went with Andrés to Green Turtle Cay in the Bahamas.
Andres took off from Nassau with a helicopter full of so much water and food that some of it was in his lap.
“We are going to deliver 7,400 meals. But for me, this is half of what we are supposed to be doing already,” he said.
When he landed in Green Turtle Cay, people were waiting. On the island of just 550 people, it looked as though most every structure was damaged or destroyed. People said they have no power, and they need help.
From there, Andrés headed for Treasure Cay. A woman at the community center told the chef what they need for the community of roughly 1,500 people. “What we need is pasta, pasta sauce, can goods, rice, grits, shelf stable,” she said.
— David Begnaud
”I should have been dead”: Survivors face uncertain future in Bahamas
Neighborhoods have been destroyed after Dorian’s 185 mph winds tore through the Bahamas. Some people are just learning the fate of their loved ones.
“Glad to be alive. This is the second time in my life I should have been dead,” said Doug, a 75-year-old man who did not want to give his last name.
He told “CBS Evening News” a harrowing story of survival after his home, a boat, was swept away, leaving him in debris-filled water. He was rescued from Abaco Island Wednesday and flown to Princess Margaret Hospital, just in time, he said, to save his legs from amputation.
“I believe in God,” he said.
About 13 miles from the hospital, helicopters continue to fly in survivors, like 1-year-old Reign and her mother, Ostina Dean.
“What kept me going was the child, that was it. I looked at her and I was like no, my baby’s not going out like this,” Dean said.
Her entire family was rescued from Abaco Island on Thursday, including 11-year-old Zion. His young eyes witnessed far more than any child should ever have to.
“My heart just stop like it… I was panicking. I opened my eyes wide. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” he said.
— Nikki Battiste
Coast Guard rescues 201 in the Bahamas
The U.S. Coast Guard said it has rescued a total of 201 people since Hurricane Dorian struck the Bahamas. They’ll keep flying into the hardest hit parts of the Bahamas for as long as they are needed.
“CBS Evening News” flew with the Coast Guard’s Seventh District over the islands hit hardest by the hurricane. Aboard the HC-144 cargo plane, the devastation is clear.
“Our primary mission is search and rescue. We can suffer some casualty to the plane to save a life but our primary mission is to save a life,” Lieutenant Julianna White said.
The Coast Guard also said it has four vessels posted near the Bahamas ready to engage with relief efforts.
The Coast Guard Air Station Miami is no stranger to these missions. In 2005, they rescued nearly 800 people following Hurricane Katrina. Lieutenant Jillian Harner said even one rescue makes all the hard work worth it.
“It’s definitely an honor. You have one case of rescues, it’s the best feeling. It makes the training you’ve done worth it,” Harner said.
