U.S. weather forecasters said Thursday Hurricane Dorian is continuing to strengthen and could hit the southern U.S. coastal state of Florida over the weekend as a major storm with more than 200-kilometer-an-hour winds.
Dorian, with Category 1 winds of 140 kilometers an hour, largely spared the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico in the Caribbean, but is gaining strength as it continues on a northwesterly path over the open, warm waters of the Atlantic on a projected course toward the U.S. mainland.
The National Hurricane Center said Dorian "is expected to become a major hurricane on Friday, and remain an extremely dangerous hurricane through the weekend." It could be a Category 4 storm, the second most powerful, as it approaches the east coast of Florida, its current forecasted landfall.
Forecasters expect the center of Dorian to approach the northern Bahamas by late Saturday, and Florida on Sunday or Monday.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has already declared a state of emergency to prepare to respond to potential damage from storm surge, heavy rains and winds.
"All Floridians on the East Coast should have seven days of supplies, prepare their homes and follow the track closely," DeSantis tweeted Wednesday.
He added that he had spoken with President Donald Trump and been assured the state "has the full support of the federal government."
Trump added his own Twitter alert Thursday, telling Florida to "get ready!"
"Hurricane Dorian looks like it will be hitting Florida late Sunday night," he wrote. "Be prepared and please follow State and Federal instructions, it will be a very big Hurricane, perhaps one of the biggest!"
Dorian caused some flooding and power outages on two Puerto Rican islands, but did not bring major damage to the U.S. territory, or to the U.S. and British Virgin Islands.
