New track shows Dorian making northern turn after landfall. Will it impact Columbus?
Hurricane Dorian could bring some rain and wind to the Columbus area next week. But its intensity remains unclear as the storm works its way toward the United States.
The 5 p.m. forecast from the National Hurricane Center on Friday has Dorian, a Category 4 as of late Friday, tracking west through the northwestern Bahamas.
Dorian is now projected to make landfall as a high-end Category 3 or a low-end Category 4 in the U.S. on Tuesday along Florida’s southern Atlantic Coast as it slows down and turns north. Heavy rains, capable of causing life-threatening floods, are expected in portions of the Bahamas and the coastal southeastern United States this weekend and through much of next week.
Much of south and coastal Georgia is within Dorian’s cone of possibility and could be affected by a northern turn. Gov. Brian Kemp declared a State of Emergency in Brantley, Bryan, Camden, Charlton, Chatham, Effingham, Glynn, Liberty, McIntosh, Pierce and Wayne counties Thursday afternoon ahead of the storm. The hurricane center’s latest projections have the storm south of Jacksonville by Wednesday afternoon but there’s still uncertainty about the storm’s path that far out.
“Dorian is expected to be an extremely dangerous major hurricane as it moves through the northwestern Bahamas and near the east coast of the Florida peninsula in about two to four days,” the hurricane center said in a portion of its latest forecast Friday. “Given the collapse of the steering currents, the track forecast by the end of the forecast period is highly uncertain, and any small deviation in the track could bring the core of the powerful hurricane well inland over Florida, keep it near the coast, or offshore.”
The areas of Georgia that could be affected by Dorian are some of the same areas damaged by 2018’s Hurricane Michael. However, Dorian’s force will be felt the most in Florida, said Nick Morgan, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s office in Peachtree City.
The Columbus area will likely see rain and wind from the storm, but projected amounts are unclear and depend on Dorian’s track. Rainfall amounts and wind speed projections will likely increase as the storm gets closer to making landfall. Outer rains would first come to the area in the middle of the week, Morgan said.
“There’s still just a lot of uncertainty with this right now,” he said. “There’s a high-pressure system to the north of it. We’re just trying to see how strong it is and ... when that turn north happens.”
If the storm goes further west and into Florida before a possible northward turn, chances for heavy rains and high winds increase. Some models show Hurricane Dorian could move into the Gulf and strengthen, but that scenario seems less and less likely, Morgan said.
“If it goes on the western side of Florida, we’ll see more impact. If it goes on the eastern side of Florida, we will see limited impacts,” Morgan said.
Residents should follow updates and advice from local authorities and the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency regarding the storm, said Vaughn Smith, a National Weather Service forecaster.
Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson said the city is monitoring the storm’s path, and has members of Columbus’ public safety and public works departments ready to deploy if needed. The city is also preparing for evacuees who may come here.
“The city manager is pulling together a team to prepare to provide temporary shelter for any that may need it coming from areas directly within the storm’s path,” Henderson said in a text message.
The Georgia Department of Transportation, in partnership with the Governor’s Office, Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency, the National Weather Service and other state and local officials, is preparing for Dorian’s landfall. Maintaining roads and bridges, the agency said, is essential.
The storm could bring “heavy rain and flooding (to) south and central Georgia, as well as a potential influx of evacuees from Florida,” according to a statement from GDOT on Thursday.
Georgia Power is also monitoring the storm’s path. The company provides energy to 2.6 million customers in the state.
“It’s still too early for us to make any calls right now but we are working with … our sister companies, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, to track our resources so that when the time comes, we know what’s available,” said Meredith Stone, a spokesperson for Georgia Power on Thursday. “We don’t know what our impacts might be.”
Stone recommended that residents check their emergency kits and make sure there’s a three-day supply of food and water for everyone in the household.
Customers can sign up for outage alerts online that give specific outage information about home via text, call or email, she said.
“This is a great opportunity to start making those plans,” she said.
This story was originally published August 29, 2019 at 4:54 PM.