model<\/a>,\nfrom the University of Michigan, Industrial & Operations Engineering\nprogram, predicts at least 35 percent of the Sunshine State’s population will\nlose electricity.<\/p>\n\n\n\nDorian is becoming more powerful as it passes the warm\nwaters off of Florida’s coast, and maximum sustained winds increased Friday\nmorning to near 110 mph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As of 8am on Friday, Dorian was about 260 miles\neast-northeast of the southern Bahamas. On Friday afternoon, the storm became a\nCategory 3 hurricane. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
By the time Dorian hits Florida, it is likely to hit as\nCategory 4 or Category 5 storm. If it becomes a Category 5, Floridians will\nhave to battle wind speeds of more than 156mph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That makes the storm comparable to Hurricane Andrew, which\nwas was the most destructive hurricane to ever hit Florida where it made\nlandfall, with wind speeds as high as 165mph, killing 65 people and causing\n$27.3billion in damage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the newspaper, by the time Dorian reaches Kissimmee\non Wednesday morning, it will have decreased to a Category 1 storm with winds\nof 75 mph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, because the storm’s track could change, no\nimmediate mass evacuations have been ordered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Along Florida’s east coast, local governments began\ndistributing sandbags, shoppers rushed to stock up on food, plywood and other\nemergency supplies at supermarkets and hardware stores, and motorists topped\noff their tanks and filled gasoline cans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Friday morning, Florida Power and Light activated its\nemergency response plan, saying in a news release that it has secured some\n13,000 employees and additional personnel to help restore power after Dorian\nhits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency\nfor every county and asked President Trump declare a pre-landfall disaster for\nall 67 counties. He also activated 2,500 members of the National Guard\nwith 1,500 more on standby. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Due to Hurricane Dorian’s uncertain projected path, I am expanding\nthe state of emergency to include all 67 counties throughout Florida,’ DeSantis\nsaid Thursday morning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
‘All residents, especially those along the east coast, need\nto be prepared for possible impacts. As it increases strength, this storm has\nthe potential to severely damage homes, businesses and buildings, which is why\nall Floridians should remain vigilant. Do not wait until it is too late to make\na plan .<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most major airlines – including American,\nDelta, Frontier, JetBlue, Southwest, Spirit and United – have issued\ntravel waiver for portions of Florida and the Bahamas ahead of Dorian. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The US military is also moving aircraft. The US Navy has\nmoved more than 40 planes from its Jacksonville bases to bases in Michigan,\nOhio and Texas, CNN <\/a>reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAnd the US Air Force is moving 16 aircraft from its Tampa\nbase to McConnell Air Force Base in Kansas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The storm caused some flooding and power outages in the US\nand British Virgin Islands as it carved its way northwest across the Caribbean\nearlier this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Island-wide blackouts were reported in St Thomas and St John\nin the US Virgin Islands, along with scattered power outages in St Croix,\ngovernment spokesman Richard Motta told AP. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition, the storm downed trees and at least one\nelectric post in St Thomas, Motta said, adding that there were no reports of\nmajor flooding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
‘We are grateful that it wasn’t a stronger storm,’ he\nsaid. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
‘Nothing stopping’ monster Hurricane Dorian that’s already strengthened to Category 3 from becoming a CATEGORY 5 when it strikes Florida on Labor Day with winds of over 156mph – as… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":44420,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44419"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44419\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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