Staff Report –

WASHINGTON, D.C. — After skirting Puerto Rico and flattening and inundating the Bahamas, where the death toll is rising to more than 30, Hurricane Dorian flooded the east coasts of Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina and made landfall at Cape Hatteras and the Outer Banks as a Category 1 storm Friday morning.

High winds and torrential rain flooded and eroded the coastline, covering beaches and roads and knocking out power for more than 400,000 homes and businesses in the Carolinas and Virginia.

As Dorian continued a slow track up the Eastern Seaboard, Virginia Beach officials ordered a mandatory evacuation for Sandbridge residents effective and Virginia Beach residents who live in areas that have historically experienced flooding were asked to voluntarily evacuate.

City officials in Hampton and Portsmouth, Virginia, also encouraged their residents to consider evacuating to higher ground, according to the Virginia Department of Emergency Management.

“Now is the time for all Virginians, especially those in our coastal regions, to finalize their preparations, listen to local emergency managers, and take shelter before the storm reaches our Commonwealth,” Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said in a statement.

Ahead of the storm, the city of New York announced that city beaches would be closed Friday and Saturday.

Scientists say the storm was a classic example of a larger, more power storm we can expect to see more of in the future, with climate change due to global warming making ocean water even hotter than before, fueling the strength and size of hurricanes like Dorian and especially considering now that the Amazon rain forests are being burned down on purpose for farming, mining and logging.

Alabama was never at risk from the storm, according to experts, contradicting reports on TV and Twitter by President Donald Trump.

North Carolina

More than 70 roads, several of which are primary routes, were closed in the state Friday morning because of the storm, according to the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

Waves pound the Bogue Inlet Fishing Pier in Emerald Isle, North Carolina, as Hurricane Dorian moves north off the coast.

Along the Outer Banks, businesses were closed and visitors were ordered to evacuate. But on Ocracoke Island, about half of the 1,000 residents stayed in their homes to ride out the storm, local business owner Ann Warner told the Associated Press.

“If you want to change your mind, it’s too late,” she said. “We’re on our own.”

Gov. Roy Cooper had ordered mandatory evacuations on all of the state’s barrier islands. East of Wilmington, the town of Wrightsville Beach announced residents and visitors will be able to return by 11 a.m. EDT Friday morning.

Roofs were ripped off homes in a development near Carolina Springs. Insulation, shingles, boards and wrought iron fences littered dozens of yards, according to a video from the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office. The governor’s office later confirmed a tornado touched down leaving a trail of damage about 10 miles long near Calabash and Sunset Beach.

A possible tornado tore the roof off the Scotts Hill Market near Topsail, north of Wilmington.

The National Weather Service office in Wilmington shared video of a tornado passing near Pender County Fire Station 18 along U.S. 17 in Burgaw.

About 9 a.m. Thursday, a tornado that had formed offshore as a waterspout destroyed or damaged an RV park, a camper storage area and a water park in Emerald Isle, North Carolina, town officials said. No Injuries were reported.

Town Manager Matt Zapp told the News and Observer people were in at least one of the campers in the Boardwalk RV Park when the tornado hit. About half of the 50 mobile homes in the park were damaged, WECT.com reported.

The Boardwalk RV Park was damaged about 9 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 5, 2019, after a tornado was spawned by Hurricane Dorian, according to Emerald Isle town officials.

The campers were stored a few blocks away at the Holiday Trav-L-Park. Ronnie Watson, who owns the park, said he was in his office when he heard screams.

“My grandson and daughter were screaming, ‘Tornado! Tornado!'” Watson told the News and Observer. “I looked up and saw it coming. So we ran into the bathroom. It sounded like a locomotive.”

Watson said the tornado damaged 40 to 50 trailers in the storage area.

At least one death in North Carolina has been linked to Hurricane Dorian. An 85-year-old Columbus County man fell off a ladder while preparing his home for the storm, according to Cooper.

“This is a powerful, dangerous storm,” Cooper said in a briefing Thursday. “Do not put yourselves or your families at risk and do not drive through flood waters.”

At least 40 counties have declared states of emergency, and dozens of school districts were closed Thursday.

South Carolina

Evacuation orders were lifted for all counties Friday morning, Gov. Henry McMaster announced.

Officials said five people rode out the storm on Pawleys Island, WPDE.com reported. Police urged everyone to evacuate, but those five refused to leave before access on and off the island was shut down.

Police required those who refused to leave to sign a form acknowledging that they did not obey the evacuation order, and had to give information for next of kin, the report added.

“He’s the one that’s more frightened for me than anyone else,” John Brown, one of the five who stayed on the island, told WPDE, speaking about his brother. “He’s always calling me every year like, ‘Hey, you leaving?!’ But I don’t call him when the snowstorm hits in Chicago and it’s 25 below zero. You know, I would rather deal with this than a snowstorm.”

Flooding and damage were reported on the island Thursday.

There were more than 100 road closures in and around the city of Charleston on Thursday because of flooding and other blockages. As much as 20 inches of rain in places was forecast in the counties around Charleston.

Floodwaters flowed through the streets around the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. Outside the Charleston City Market, a live wire fell into floodwaters, and the sparks caused explosions that could be heard blocks away, the AP reported.

A video shared on Twitter showed floodwaters spreading along Meeting and Huger streets in downtown Charleston, about 3,300 feet from the Cooper River.

Charleston officials said the storms had toppled more than 150 trees in the city.

Wind tore off half the roof at the Holy City Church in James Island, a town next to Charleston, WCSC-TV reported. Dozens of trees were blown down around the town.

Charleston County EMS announced it was evaluating weather conditions before sending crews out on 911 calls. One official said the county had received 162 wind-related damage reports, according to the National Weather Service.

In a rare occurrence of the Waffle House Index turning red, Dorian forced the closure of two Waffle House locations in South Carolina, according to The State. One location in Charleston and another on Johns Island closed because of power and flooding issues, Pat Warner, director of public relations and external affairs at Waffle House, told McClatchy news group in an email. The 10 other Charleston area locations remained open, as did all other Waffle House restaurants in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.

Dorchester County pulled all public works and state transportation department vehicles off the roads as conditions worsened about 9 a.m. The county said public safety crews would “respond to true emergency calls only.”

The county also shared video of trees and limbs lying across a stretch of westbound Interstate 26.

Georgetown County officials said in tweet that fire and EMS services had been called off “until wind speeds subside to a safe level.” In the city of Georgetown, water stood about a foot deep on Front Street and was getting deeper.

A spokesman for the fire department in Beaufort said the dispatch center was overwhelmed with calls about fallen trees.

A large tree limb punched through the roof of a home in Beaufort about 1:30 a.m., according to the Island Packet. A man living in the home wasn’t hurt, firefighters said.

Downed trees also blocked roads in Hilton Head and Bluffton.

A tornado was spotted in North Myrtle Beach. The winds ripped the siding off an apartment building and damaged the roof, WMBF-TV reported. Street flooding was also reported in North Myrtle Beach.

A North Myrtle Beach city spokesman, Patrick Dowling, told the AP that officials think one or more suspected tornadoes damaged several residences and mobile homes.

Another tornado damaged homes in Little River, WPDE.com reported.

Power lines were down across roads in Horry County and Dillion County, according to the South Carolina Highway Patrol.

In a Thursday afternoon news briefing, McMaster said mandatory evacuation orders were lifted in three of the eight counties where they had been in effect. Those counties are Jasper, Beaufort and Colleton. The evacuation order remains in effect in Charleston, Dorchester, Berkeley, Georgetown and Horry counties.

Virginia

Several Virginia school districts announced they would be closed on Friday, including Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk and Hampton. Universities and colleges including Old Dominion, Norfolk State, Tidewater Community College, Saint Leo and Eastern Virginia Medical School announced classes would be canceled Friday. Some also closed early on Thursday.

“Hurricane Dorian remains a powerful storm that has already caused loss of life and serious damage in the Bahamas, Florida and the Carolinas,” Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said in a statement. “Tropical storm force winds, storm surge, heavy rains, and flooding from this hurricane will impact much of eastern Virginia overnight and tomorrow.”

City and county government offices across the region also will be closed. The U.S. Navy moved ships out of Virginia ports, and Stars and Stripes reported that over 820 people, “including families, guests, and Marines and Navy servicemembers” were evacuated from areas in Virginia Beach.

Georgia

Jason Buelterman, mayor of Tybee Island, told WCSC the island was spared from flooding when the high tide was about 3 feet lower than predicted. Little damage was inflicted on the island that is home to about 3,000 people, and U.S. 80, the highway that links Tybee Island to Savanah, remained open all night.

“If the worst that comes out of this is people blame others for calling evacuations, then that’s wonderful,” Buelterman said.

In Savannah, businesses that had boarded up began reopening on Thursday morning.

Emergency officials along the 100-mile Georgia coast reported only light damage from Dorian. Gov. Brian Kemp lifted the evacuation order Thursday morning for all six coastal Georgia counties.

Florida

Hurricane Dorian’s brush by the Sunshine State appears to not have caused serious damage.

The storm left parts of St. Augustine and flood-prone areas in Jacksonville inundated, according to the Florida Times-Union, but officials said they didn’t receive reports of major flooding.

Water entered some homes on Anastasia Island, north of St. Augustine Beach, WJXT reported.

Beyond some beach erosion, the Space Coast also appears to have escaped serious damage, officials told Florida Today.

Mandatory evacuations were canceled and people began to return to their homes.

The state’s Department of Transportation said tolls were being reinstated on toll road beginning early Thursday. Ports reopened and cruise ships began to get back on schedule.

Two people died in accidents related to storm preparation. An Indialantic, Florida, man fell from a ladder while boarding up windows on a beachside condominium, police told Florida Today. In Ocoee, a man trimming tree limbs ahead of Dorian was killed on Monday when he fell from the tree, authorities told WKMG-TV.

Thanks to Weather Underground for some of this reporting.