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Hurricane Dorian: 'Extremely dangerous' storm bears down on Florida | Hurricane Dorian: 'Extremely dangerous' storm bears down on Florida |
(30 minutes later) | |
Hurricane Dorian will strengthen into an "extremely dangerous" storm as it barrels towards the US, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) has said. | |
Dorian is currently a category two hurricane, but is expected to become a category three later on Friday. | |
The storm is expected to hit Florida as a 130mph (209km/h) category four. | |
Forecasters warn it could be the state's deadliest storm since category five Hurricane Andrew killed 65 people and destroyed 63,000 homes in 1992. | |
Dorian is projected to make landfall on Monday, which is Labor Day, a public holiday in the US. | |
The storm is moving slowly - at just 12mph (19km/h) as it crawls north-west across the ocean surface. | |
Hurricanes tend to get stronger as they move over warm water like that off the Florida coast. | |
What's the forecast? | What's the forecast? |
As of Friday morning, the storm was packing winds of 110mph, just shy of category three. | |
The NHC warned in a briefing that Dorian could cause "incredibly catastrophic damage" with life-threatening storm surges of up to 9ft (2.7m). | |
The hurricane was expected to drop up to 12in (30cm) of rain on the coastal US, with some areas getting as much as 15in. | |
The NHC has issued a hurricane watch for the north-western Bahamas, warning that heavy rain "may cause life-threatening flash floods". | |
Dorian earlier this week grazed the US territory of Puerto Rico, battering its smaller islands, Vieques and Culebra, with heavy rain and high winds. | |
How are residents preparing? | |
Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency for the whole state. | |
He told residents: "We urge all Floridians to have seven days worth of food, medicine and water. | |
"This is potentially a multi-day event where it will churn slowly across the state. That obviously creates a whole host of issues." | |
The governor has activated 2,500 National Guard troops, with another 1,500 on standby. | |
Shoppers in Florida have been queuing around the block to snap up supplies such as medication and fuel. | |
People have been asked to bring their pets with them in case of evacuation, and on social media, the names of hotels that accept pets are being shared. | |
What is President Trump doing? | |
President Donald Trump warned Dorian "could be an absolute monster". He cancelled a planned trip to Poland because of the storm, sending Vice-President Mike Pence instead. | |
Mr Trump's critics have argued that he is only taking the hurricane seriously now because it is threatening white people on the US mainland. | |
A Democratic congressman, Don Beyer of Virginia, told CNN that the Republican president took notice because "Florida is not an island full of people of colour". | |
In Canada, former Prime Minister Kim Campbell stirred controversy by tweeting that she hoped for "a direct hit on Mar-a-Lago", the president's Palm Beach club house. | |
She later apologised. | |
Are you in the affected region? What preparations are you making for Hurricane Dorian? Email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk. | Are you in the affected region? What preparations are you making for Hurricane Dorian? Email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk. |
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways: | Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways: |
Or use the form below: | Or use the form below: |