At Least 1 Million People in These Counties Are Under Evacuation Orders As Hurricane Dorian Approaches

At least 1 million people have been ordered to evacuate in three U.S. states beginning Monday ahead of Hurricane Dorian, a slow-moving Category 4 storm currently raging over the Bahamas.

Hurricane Dorian is the most powerful such storm to hit the Bahamas since records began, with maximum sustained winds of over 185 miles per hour when it made landfall Sunday afternoon. It is moving westwards and is projected to hit or skirt areas along the U.S. east coast, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Monday. It’s likely to remain a Category 4 hurricane as it approaches the continental U.S., but is still “extremely dangerous,” the NHC says.

The NHC has issued a hurricane watch for Florida’s east coast from Deerfield Beach north to the Volusia and Brevard county line. Officials in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina have all declared states of emergency ahead of Dorian.

South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster and Georgia Governor Brian Kemp both issued mandatory evacuation orders to take effect at noon local time Monday. “We know we can’t make everybody happy, but we believe we can keep everyone alive,” McMaster said while announcing the evacuation orders at a Sunday press conference. McMaster also ordered schools and state government offices in eight countries to close starting Tuesday until further notice.

The South Carolina evacuation order covers approximately 830,000 people living in eight coastal countries. In Georgia, around 300,000 people living east of Interstate 95 have been told to evacuate. Authorities in Florida have also ordered mandatory evacuations in some vulnerable coastal areas. On Saturday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis warned residents along the state’s Atlantic coast that “we’re not out of the woods yet.”

Here’s a list of the counties, towns, cities and other communities under evacuation orders as Hurricane Dorian approaches the U.S. east coast.

Florida Hurricane Dorian Evacuations

• Martin County
• Palm Beach County
• Brevard County
• St. Lucie County
• St. Johns County
• The following counties have issued voluntary evacuations: Flagler, Nassau, Osceola, Glades, Hendry, Okeechobee, and Highlands counties.

Georgia Hurricane Dorian Evacuations

• Bryan
• Camden
• Chatham
• Glynn
• Liberty
• McIntosh Counties

South Carolina Hurricane Dorian Evacuations

• Colleton
• Beaufort
• Jasper
• Charleston
• Dorchester
• Berkeley
• Horry
• Georgetown

 

See updated lists of evacuation zones here for: Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.

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