1M Ordered to Leave Homes as Dorian Approaches

Evacuation orders issued in SC, Georgia, Florida
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 2, 2019 4:31 AM CDT
Updated Sep 2, 2019 6:50 AM CDT
Hurricane Evacuation Orders Issued in 3 States
This GOES-16 satellite image taken Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019 and provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, shows Hurricane Dorian churning over the Atlantic Ocean.   (NOAA via AP)

More than a million people in three states have been ordered to leave their homes as Hurricane Dorian slowly moves toward the East Coast. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp have ordered the evacuation of their state's entire Atlantic coastlines, the AP reports. The storm, which made landfall in the Bahamas as a devastating Category 5 hurricane on Sunday, is expected to batter that country throughout Monday before before turning north just off Florida's coast Tuesday, the Miami Herald reports. Mandatory evacuation orders have also been issued for some of the more vulnerable coastal areas in Florida, where authorities warn that the hurricane could still change course and make landfall. The National Hurricane Center warned Sunday that Dorian "will move dangerously close to the Florida east coast tonight through Wednesday evening."

The evacuation orders cover at least 830,000 people in South Carolina and more than 200,000 in Georgia, NBC reports. In South Carolina, state troopers will make all lanes on coastal highways one-way heading inland at noon Monday, McMaster said. "We can't make everybody happy, but we believe we can keep everyone alive," the governor said. In the Bahamas, where Dorian hit with 185mph sustained winds—tying a record for the most powerful Atlantic hurricane ever to make landfall—homes have been wrecked and at least one person has been killed, the Guardian reports. In a nationally televised address Sunday, Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said the country was being "put to the test" by a "monster storm," adding that it was "probably the most sad and worst day of my life to address the Bahamian people." (More Hurricane Dorian stories.)

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