Hurricane Dorian strengthens, continues path toward Florida

The latest forecast for Hurricane Dorian’s path turns it more west, increasing the chances the strong hurricane makes landfall on Florida’s Atlantic coast.

Dorian is currently a Category 1 hurricane with sustained winds at 85 miles an hour and gusts at 105 miles per hour.

Thursday morning, the storm is located just north of Puerto Rico. It is expected to continue moving north and west over warm ocean water, strengthening to a Category 3 hurricane before heading toward the continental United States.

There are still plenty of unanswered questions about when and where Dorian will ultimately make landfall, but the most likely candidates as of Thursday morning are a landfall Monday morning along the Florida or Georgia coast.

ABC11 Meteorologist Don “Big Weather” Schwenneker said the storm could still hit anywhere from the Florida Keys to south Georgia.

“Long ways to go in this forecast, so far it stays south and we (North Carolina) do not take a hit from this hurricane,” Big Weather said.

Still, with it being hurricane season, there’s nothing wrong with being prepared. Here are the things Big Weather says you should have in your hurricane emergency kit.

Puerto Rico & Virgin Islands

Hurricane Dorian moved out over open waters early Thursday after doing limited damage in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

The storm was a Category 1 hurricane Wednesday when it swirled through the islands of the northeastern Caribbean, causing power outages and flooding in places but doing no major damage.

“We’re happy because there are no damages to report,” said William Solís, the mayor of the small Puerto Rican island of Culebra. He said only one community lost power.

Dorian caused an islandwide blackout in St. Thomas and St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and scattered power outages in St. Croix, government spokesman Richard Motta said. In addition, the storm downed trees and at least one electric pole in St. Thomas, he said, adding that there were no reports of major flooding.

“We are grateful that it wasn’t a stronger storm,” he said.

There were no reports of serious damage in the British Virgin Islands, where Gov. Augustus Jaspert said crews were already clearing roads and inspecting infrastructure by late Wednesday afternoon.