Chaotic scenes in supermarkets as 'catastrophic' hurricane bears down on Florida
Hurricane Dorian is forecast to strengthen and become a highly dangerous Category 4 hurricane, threatening the Atlantic coast of central and south Florida.
Spurred on by warm Atlantic waters, Dorian is predicted to pack winds reaching 209km/h in 72 hours, the National Hurricane Centre said on Thursday.
That would make it a Category 4 storm, the second-strongest on the Saffir-Simpson scale for measuring hurricane intensity.
The centre describes Category 4 storms as capable of causing "catastrophic damage" including severe damage to well-built homes.
It said in such storms, "most trees will be snapped or uprooted and power poles downed".
Dorian is likely to make landfall on Florida's east coast on Monday, before lingering over central Florida on Tuesday, the hurricane centre said in an advisory.
Currently a Category 1 hurricane, Dorian took aim at the Bahamas and the Florida coast on Thursday after sideswiping the Caribbean without doing major damage.
Dorian is expected to strengthen and slam the Bahamas and the southeast US with rain, strong winds and life-threatening surf over the next few days.
Dorian was packing maximum sustained winds of 137km/h on Thursday morning some 355km north-northwest of San Juan, and about 600km east of the Bahamas, the hurricane centre said.
US President Donald Trump urged Floridians to heed official warnings. Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency on Wednesday and asked residents along the state's east coast to stock up with at least seven days' worth of supplies such as food and water.
"Hurricane Dorian looks like it will be hitting Florida late Sunday night," Trump wrote on Twitter.
"Be prepared and please follow State and Federal instructions, it will be a very big Hurricane, perhaps one of the biggest!"
The US Coast Guard said all pleasure boats at the Port of Key West should seek safe harbour before the Labor Day weekend begins and ocean-going vessels should make plans to leave the port ahead of the storm.
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