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Dorian extremely dangerous as it nears Bahamas, say specialist
By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Hurricane Dorian is expected to strengthen into "a major hurricane later today," the National Hurricane Center said Friday.
"Dorian is likely to remain an extremely dangerous hurricane while it moves near the northwestern Bahamas and approaches the Florida peninsula through the weekend," the center said.
The Bahamian government has issued a hurricane watch for the northwestern Bahamas, while Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency for the entire state.
Rainfall from Dorian could produce life-threatening flash floods, the hurricane center says.
Dorian is moving with maximum sustained winds of 165 kilometers per hour.
Forecasters predict that Dorian could slam into southeastern Florida early Monday as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of at least 209 kilometers per hour.
Category 4 storms are capable of what experts describe as catastrophic damage — destroying homes and stores, ripping up roads, and knocking down trees and power lines.
U.S. President Donald Trump has canceled a planned trip to Poland to "ensure that all resources of the federal government are focused on the arriving storm ... it's something very important for me to be here," he said Thursday.
According to Voice of America report, residents along Florida's Atlantic Coast have been told to stand by for possible evacuation. They are filling their gas tanks and stocking up on food, water, and emergency supplies.
Dorian largely spared Puerto Rico and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, causing some floods and power outages but no major damage.
Updated information on the hurricane can be reached at Voice of America site*, or National Hurricane Center site.*
According to Environmental Defense Fund, As climate warms, it is experiencing ever-more devastating storm surges and record rainfalls during hurricane season, which is also why these storms are becoming more destructive and costly.
"Evaporation intensifies as temperatures rise, increasing the amount of water vapor that storms pull into their systems as they travel across warm oceans," said the organization in its statement. " That makes for higher rainfall and more flooding when they hit land."
Storm surge occurs when waters rise above their normal levels and are pushed inland by wind.
For example, with Hurricane Katrina, which hit land as a Category 3 hurricane, it was the storm surge that caused the levees to fail, leading to destruction in the New Orleans area, said the Fund.
"Storm surge was also responsible for an extra $2 billion in damage to New York City after Sandy hit in 2012", according to the Fund report.
This phenomenon is made worse by sea level rise, which is triggered by human-caused global warming as warmer ocean water expands and land ice melts. The average global sea level has already increased by more than half a foot since the Industrial Revolution.
Environmental Defense Fund is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1967, "dedicated to protecting the environmental rights of all people', said the organization in its statement.
More information on Environmental Defense Fund can be reached at its site.*
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