Barreling through the U.S. Virgin Islands and scraping eastern Puerto Rico, Dorian intensified from a tropical storm to a hurricane Wednesday afternoon. The storm was unleashing damaging winds and torrential rain that threatened to produce flash flooding and mudslides.
By the weekend, the strengthening storm could approach the Florida coast as a major Category 3 hurricane, although there is some uncertainty about its final destination.
All indications are that by this Labor Day weekend, a powerful hurricane will be near or over the Florida peninsula, the National Hurricane Center said in its 5 p.m. advisory Wednesday.
Florida governor Ron DeSantis (R) declared a state of emergency Wednesday afternoon to ensure local governments and emergency management agencies have ample time, resources and flexibility to get prepared, he posted to Twitter.
At 5 p.m. Wednesday, Dorian was centered 45 miles northwest of St. Thomas, moving northwest at 14 mph. The strengthening storm packed peak winds of 80 mph, an increase of 30 mph since Tuesday night.
Radar imagery from Puerto Rico on Wednesday revealed Dorian had formed an increasingly well-defined eye, a sign of intensification. A tropical storm warning is in effect for Puerto Rico while hurricane warnings cover Vieques, Culebra and the United States and British Virgin Islands.
Much of Puerto Rico missed the brunt of Dorian as it passed slightly to the east, directly over St. Croix and St. Thomas. However, the storm’s outer bands were still lashing the northeastern Puerto Rico and the islands of Culebra and Vieques early Wednesday evening.
Dangerous winds will continue in the Virgin Islands, Culebra, Vieques, and portions of Puerto Rico during the next few hours, the Hurricane Center wrote in its 5 p.m. advisory. Heavy rainfall over portions of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands could produce flash flooding through Thursday morning.
The potential for rapid strengthening is particularly concerning, considering that high tides along the East Coast will be running unusually high as King Tides could cause coastal flooding in the absence of any storm, and could exacerbate storm surge effects from Dorian.
Climate change-related sea level rise also heightens the risk of storm surge flooding by raising the baseline sea levels upon which storm surges build.