Hurricane Dorian could be the fifth major storm to threaten the United States in three years, driving home scientists' warnings that climate change is shaping powerful tropical systems.
Dorian is expected to sweep near the Florida coast as a Category 4 or 3 storm later today, but it will be remembered as one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes in history. The deadly storm bore down on the Bahamas over the weekend with sustained winds of 185 mph.
Yesterday, Dorian stalled out over Grand Bahama, lashing the 50,000-resident island with rain and damaging winds before moderating to a strong Category 4 storm in the afternoon. By 11 p.m. EDT, the National Hurricane Center measured sustained winds of 130 mph.
Dorian killed at least five people in the Abaco Islands in the northern Bahamas, Bahamian Prime Minister Hubert Minnis announced yesterday afternoon. He said the storm was an unprecedented event in the independent British commonwealth of 400,000 people.
Scientists have warned that hurricane intensity will rise over the next century as ocean waters warm, providing more energy to tropical systems as they move toward land. Research since 2017 has borne out such predictions, with larger, wetter and more destructive hurricanes occurring almost annually.
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