Hurricane Dorian intensifies as it heads for US

If Hurricane Dorian hits Florida as forecast, it will be the fourth straight year a hurricane has struck the state, something that hasn’t happened since the 1940s.

Floridians need to prepare for Hurricane Dorian if they haven’t already, Gov. Ron DeSantis said at the Orange County Emergency Operations Center where he was briefed about the storm.

“We anticipate a lot of rain. Losing power is big probability also. If you’re in an area prone to flooding, you’re likely to see that with this storm,” he said.

DeSantis said Florida Power & Light has brought in 14,000 workers from other states and pre-positioned them across the state so they can restore power as soon as the storm passes.

“You should assume there is going to be power loss if you’re in the path of this storm,” he said.

DeSantis said there are no evacuations in Florida at this time, but if and when they are ordered, people should listen.

“If you’re in an evacuation zone and told to evacuate you need to heed that call and protect yourself and your family,” DeSantis said.

Miami Beach Commissioner John Elizabeth Alemán captured photos of flooding on Friday.

 “It’s not raining and I’m standing in 6 inches of water just based on a king tide and some minor rain. Imagine how these neighbors must be concerned about flooding and evacuation for a tropical storm or hurricane,” Alemán said in a Facebook post.

The flooding is due to the beginning of Florida’s king tides, a term that refers to the highest tides in any given period. These high tides follow a cycle — after all, tides are caused by the moon and follow a predictable pattern.

Florida Keys officials are asking visitors to leave the Keys if possible, ahead of Hurricane Dorian

Officials said they are not ordering a mandatory visitor evacuation and lodging properties can remain open.

Officials said that the most significant concern is flooding in the low-lying areas in the Upper Keys.

A team from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Aircraft Operations Center flew into the center of Hurricane Dorian’s eye.

The center of the storm. If you are in the eye, you can see the stadium effect — where the clouds stack up like a stadium. It is the calmest part of the storm. You can even see blue sky during the day and stars at night

Here’s a look at the video the team took while flying through the eye:

Federal officials are preparing for “a major impact” from Hurricane Dorian and are planning a two-prong plan for staging responders in different parts of Florida, according to FEMA Associate Administrator Jeffrey Byard.  

“We are looking in coordination with the state, kind of attacking this storm, if you will, from two prongs,” Byard told reporters on a conference call Friday. 

Here’s how he explained the two parts:

With landfall several days out, Byard noted there is “uncertainty” and that the agency is preparing for “a multi-state impact” should the impact stretch northward “into Georgia and the Carolinas.”   

University of Central Florida students buy groceries at a Wal-Mart Super Store in preparation for Hurricane Dorian.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office has released a list of school districts, colleges and universities that are canceling classes ahead of Hurricane Dorian.

These are the school districts that have announced closures:

And these state colleges and universities have also announced closures:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has been briefing by the director of the Division of Emergency Management and a state meteorologist.

Here are the key takeaways:  

Hurricane Dorian is currently a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph. 

But the forecast indicates Dorian may be a Category 4 hurricane — with winds from 130 to 156 mph — when it strikes.

Here’s why that matters: Meteorologists use the Saffir Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale to measure a hurricane’s strength.

The system divides storms into five categories:

This is what each category of a hurricane looks like:

Hurricane Dorian continues to strengthen in the Atlantic Ocean, with winds increasing up to 115 mph, making Dorian a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

Hurricanes that are Category 3 or higher are considered major hurricanes.

Dorian is located 625 miles east of West Palm Beach Florida and moving northwest at 10 mph. 

More about categories: Meteorologists use the Saffir Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale to measure a hurricane’s strength.

The system divides storms into five categories:

Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Minnis urged Bahamians living in vulnerable areas to not be “foolish” and try to ride out Hurricane Dorian.

He said people need to evacuate as emergency personnel can’t be expected to risk their own lives to rescue them. 

“Let me be externally very clear: Those who refuse to evacuate place themselves in great danger from very powerful and potentially life-threatening hurricane.”  

Minnis said he and his cabinet met with agency officials on Thursday night “to map out the way forward.”

The Bahamian prime minister announced all government offices are closed as of noon Friday.

A woman jumps across a flooded street in Coconut Grove, Miami, on Aug 24, 1992, in front of a sailboat washed ashore by Hurricane Andrew.

Every county in Florida is under a state of emergency as the state prepares for what may be the strongest hurricane to hit its east coast in nearly three decades.

Dorian — which is currently a Category 2 storm — is forecast to make landfall as a Category 4 storm on Monday, with sustained winds of around 130 mph. If that forecast holds, it will be the strongest hurricane to strike Florida’s East Coast since Andrew in 1992, according to CNN Meteorologist Brandon Miller.

Hurricane Andrew — which formed on Aug. 16 1992, and lasted until Aug. 28 — was originally believed to be a Category 4 storm, but was reclassified in 2005 as a Category 5.

The direct death toll was 26 people — 23 in the United States and three in the Bahamas.

Its path included northwestern Bahamas, Florida and Louisiana, and it caused between $25 and $27 billion in damage.

At least 25 members of the New York City Fire Department’s Incident Management Team will head to New York on Sunday to help with hurricane logistics, New York City mayor Bill de Blasio and Fire Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro announced today.

Dorian is currently spinning in the Atlantic Ocean with winds up to 110 mph. 

So far, the storm has swept across the British and US Virgin Islands and whipped Puerto Rico with rain. It’s expected to get even stronger over the next few days — with winds reaching up to about 130 mph — though it will likely slow down before it hits.

If Dorian continues on its current forecast, it will smack Grand Bahama island on Sunday before it makes landfall in Florida on Monday.

Remember: We’re still a few days out, so the storm could land anywhere from the Florida Keys to southeast Georgia. CNN meteorologist Judson Jones predicted on Thursday that it could be between the Space Coast and West Palm Beach.

You can track the path of the storm here.

Several experimental prototypes of EVA (Extra Vehicular Activity) on display with a suit worn on the moon by Apollo 14 astronaut Alan Sheppard (R) in the Apollo Treasures Gallery at the Kennedy Space Center.

Cape Canaveral’s Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex will be closed Sunday and Monday to prepare for Hurricane Dorian. 

On Saturday, the visitor center will be open during regular operating hours of 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET. Kennedy Space Center Bus Tours to the Apollo/Saturn V Center will be available until 2:30 p.m. Special Interest Tours will not be available. 

During this closure, visitors will not be permitted onto visitor complex grounds, the space center said in a news release.

Planning a trip? For the latest updates visit KennedySpaceCenter.com.

President Trump has approved a state of emergency declaration for the state of Florida ahead of Hurricane Dorian.

Trump’s actions “authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts,” the White House said in a statement.

Here’s the full statement:

Broward County Mayor Mark Bogen said a local state of emergency in Broward County will be declared this afternoon. 

Declaring a local state of emergency, Bogen said, allows for local officials to call for an evacuation order and declare curfews, if needed.

Bogen said no evacuation orders have been announced at this time, and county officials continue to monitor closely Dorian’s track.  

All school events in Broward County have been canceled Saturday through Monday, according to Broward County Public Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie. 

Runcie said the school district would continue to amend/ update any potential closures for next week. 

Marion Wilkinson Scott lives in Miami with his wife and two daughters. 

He posted on Twitter a picture of a car left over night at a gas station in West Kendall, with a letter on the dash: “My name is ____. I live close by. My car is out of gas. Please call me when more arrives! Tel: ____.”

Scott told CNN he feels apprehensive over Hurricane Dorian approaching Florida. 

“We stocked up last week when it was a tropical storm and have reservations for a hurricane-proof hotel with generator in Bonita Springs,” he said 

He said he’s worried about his two young daughters.

“We are people of faith. We went to the church to pray,” he added.

Shared electric scooters are seen in Santa Monica, California.

In preparation for Hurricane Dorian, Lyft is storing all its scooters starting at noon today, per requirements from the City of Miami, according to Lyft spokesperson Kaityln Carl.

Each of the 244 scooters will be picked up by Lyft’s operations team and will be secured in a warehouse. 

“The safety of our community is fundamental to Lyft,” Carl said. “We will resume operations only once conditions improve and will continue to follow the guidance provided by the City of Miami.”

Bird, another e-scooter company, provided CNN with the following statement:

Hurricane Dorian is still a Category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center’s 11 a.m. ET advisory.

To become a Category 3 storm, Dorian needs maximum sustained winds of at least 111 mph. Category 3 hurricanes and up are considered major storms.

Forecasters believe Dorian will be a Category 4 hurricane by the time it makes landfall in Florida.

Here’s a look at the latest predicted track:

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shared a satellite image of the lightning strikes associated with Hurricane Dorian. As of Friday morning, the storm is a Category 2 hurricane, but is expected to make landfall as a Category 4.

The image captures strikes from this morning.

“Take a look at all that lightning!” the agency tweeted.

In the most recent visible satellite imagery, you can see an eye beginning to emerge in the center of Hurricane Dorian. 

What this means: The eye is the storm. If you are in the eye, you can see the stadium effect — where the clouds stack up like a stadium.

The formation of an eye is an indication that Dorian is intensifying and becoming better organized.

Here’s a look at the emerging eye:

Norwegian Breakaway

Norwegian Cruise Line has changed the itineraries for its Norwegian Breakaway, Norwegian Sky, and Norwegian Sun ships ahead of Hurricane Dorian’s landfall.

Here’s how the schedules have shifted:

Norwegian Breakaway

Norwegian Sky

Norwegian Sun

NASA has moved a launch platform at Kennedy Space Center ahead of Hurricane Dorian, Gregory Harland, a spokesperson for the space center, said.

The Mobile Launch Platform left Launch Pad 39B at 6 a.m. today. It’s being moved 3.5 miles away to the Vehicle Assembly Building.

The platform cost $650 million and is the only one available for the Space Launch System, which will eventually take NASA back to the moon and ultimately to Mars.

Once secured, the Kennedy Space Center will have a skeleton staff on site throughout the storm, Harland added.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis acknowledged that there is a fuel shortage across state as Hurricane Dorian approaches.

DeSantis said they are taking steps to fix this issue.

During a morning briefing, DeSantis added that because of the decreased speed of the storm, they are expecting Dorian to be “multi-day” event.

There are at least nine Trump Organization-owned and Trump personally owned properties in South Florida that are in the path of Hurricane Dorian.

There are no evacuation orders in place yet, but CNN has reached out to the Trump Organization for updates on whether they plan to close any of the properties.

“Be prepared and please follow State and Federal instructions, it will be a very big Hurricane, perhaps one of the biggest!” President Trump tweeted Thursday morning.

 In addition to his property ownership, Trump has said he considers Florida home.

“I am thrilled to be back in my second home. That’s what it is. It’s my second home. In many cases, I think I could say it’s my first home, if you want to know the truth. It’s the great state of Florida,” he said during a June campaign rally in Orlando.

As Florida braced for Hurricane Irma in 2017, Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property closed for hurricane preparations following a mandatory evacuation order.

Here’s a list of the properties: 

At least nine colleges and universities are closing their campuses ahead of Hurricane Dorian, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced at a news conference moments ago.

The following schools will be closed starting today through Tuesday:

Watch more:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will hold a news conference in Tallahassee about Hurricane Dorian at 9 a.m. ET.

Every Florida county is under a state of emergency as storm preparations continue.

Right now, Dorian is a Category 2 storm, but it’s expected to intensify before making landfall.

If it hits as a Category 4 storm on Monday, it will be the strongest hurricane to strike Florida’s East Coast since Andrew in 1992, according to CNN Meteorologist Brandon Miller.

With Hurricane Dorian expected to slam Florida on Labor Day, vacationers at Disney World and Universal Orlando should begin preparing now.

This advice comes from Robert Niles, editor of Theme Park Insider, who told CNN that these parks have detailed plans for riding out hurricanes, which have been activated several times in the past.

If hurricane-force winds threaten the parks, they will close, Niles said.

So far, Disney and Universal have not issued press releases about park operations duirng the storm.

The best thing tourists can do in the case of a hurricane is to avoid or leave that area, Niles said.

Niles encourages vacationers to stock up on bottled water and shelf-stable food and get a full tank of gas before the storm hits.

Florida Power and Light has activated its emergency response plan for Hurricane Dorian, according to a press release from the company.

 Here are some steps the company is taking:

Windermere, Florida, resident Dango Kumwenda said he waited in line for almost two hours to pump gas at a local station.

Kumwenda posted a video of long lines of cars waiting to fill their cars at the Winter Garden Wawa gas station to his Twitter account.

The 24-year-old, who works as a personal loan specialist, said this is his first storm. He moved to Florida about three months ago.

“I’m not really sure how to feel about it, to be honest,” he said. “I would be lying if I said I wasn’t worried, but everyone else around here feels like they can ride it out so it’s putting me at ease a little bit.”

Kumwenda also posted a picture of empty shelves at the local Walmart. Take a look:

The shelves at Kumwenda's local Walmart have been cleared by residents preparing for the storm.

The National Hurricane Center just released its 8 a.m. ET advisory for Hurricane Dorian.

The storm is still a Category 2 with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph. To become a Category 3 storm, Dorian needs maximum sustained winds of at least 111 mph.

Category 3 hurricanes and up are considered major storms.

Here’s the latest forecast from the center:

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is seen at the Universal Orlando Resort

As Dorian approaches, Universal Studios says they are open for business.

The Orlando, Florida, theme park said in a statement that they are closely monitoring the hurricane.

Planning a trip? Universal will continue to update their website, www.universalorlando.com, with any additional updates as they receive them.

The government of the Bahamas has issued hurricane watches for the northwestern Bahamas, including the capital, Nassau, as the risk of life-threatening storm surge and hurricane-force winds this weekend continues to increase for this area.  

A hurricane watch means that hurricane conditions are possible within 48 hours.

The official forecast track has the storm passing directly over Great Abaco and Grand Bahama island Sunday into early Monday morning.

Atlanta Motor Speedway is opening its camping facilities to evacuees seeking refuge from Hurricane Dorian.

The Speedway, which is equipped to handle thousands of campers during its annual NASCAR weekend, will provide camping space free of charge for RV and tent campers in its Legends Campground.

Located next to the camp sites, AMS will also open the Rinnai Shower Station camper bath house, allowing evacuees free access to hot showers and restroom facilities during their stay.

Over the last few years, Atlanta Motor Speedway has opened its grounds to hundreds of people seeking refuge from powerful storms. During Hurricane Irma in 2017, the Speedway hosted more than 100 campers; in 2018 dozens more stayed in the Speedway’s camping areas during Hurricanes Florence and Michael.

“Our facility is uniquely suited for just this type of situation and making space available for people seeking refuge from hurricanes and other natural disasters is simply the right thing to do,” Executive Vice President and General Manager Brandon Hutchison said.

A limited number of camping spaces with water, power and sewer are also available for a nominal fee of $20 per night in the Premier Campground.

Every county in Florida is under a state of emergency as the state prepares for what may be the strongest hurricane to hit its east coast in nearly three decades.

At 105 mph, Dorian is the strongest storm of the Atlantic hurricane season so far. If it makes landfall as a Category 4 storm on Monday as forecast, with sustained winds of around 130 mph, it will be the strongest hurricane to strike Florida’s East Coast since Andrew in 1992, according to CNN Meteorologist Brandon Miller.

Dorian is currently a Category 2 storm.

It will also be the fourth year in a row of a hurricane of any strength hitting Florida, the most years in a row since the 1940s.

After tearing through the British and US Virgin Islands and drenching Puerto Rico with rain Wednesday, Dorian was moving northwest in the Atlantic Thursday night.

Hurricane Dorian is strengthening once again, with winds increasing up to 105 miles per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center. This makes Dorian a Category 2 on the Saffir-Simpson scale. 

“Dorian is expected to become a major hurricane on Friday and remain an extremely dangerous hurricane through the weekend,” said the Center in its latest public advisory.

Hurricane Dorian is expected to make landfall in Florida as a category 4 storm on Monday. 

The advisory adds that there may be life-threatening flash floods, swells and rip current conditions.

There are currently no coastal watches or warnings currently in effect.

Read the full public advisory here.

Florida residents have emptied shelves at Walmart on August 29, 2019 in Orlando as they prepare for Dorian.

Hardware retailer Home Depot is working to get supplies in place before Dorian strikes.  

“As communities prepare for Hurricane Dorian, we’ve sent more than 160 truckloads of supplies to our stores,” The Home Depot announced yesterday on Twitter.  

Residents in Florida, Georgia, and other southern states have been stockpiling supplies in the past two days as they prepare for the hurricane, which is expected to make landfall over Labor Day weekend.

Teams at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida are working to protect the Artemis space flight hardware from Dorian. 

Artemis is the NASA project to put humans back on the moon’s South Pole by 2024.

On Wednesday, NASA moved equipment like the Mobile Launcher indoors to protect the hardware from strong winds.

According to Knox, the space center is scheduled to close at 6 pm ET on Saturday, but that could change if the storm slows. 

Ahead of Hurricane Dorian, Florida has launched a website monitoring the generator status of nursing homes and long-term care facilities.

All Florida nursing homes and assisted living facilities are required to keep residents in a safe environment in an emergency – and part of this includes regulating temperature. The facilities must have an emergency power plan to make sure air conditioners keep temperatures under 81 degrees.

“I think that sends a very important message that if you are entrusted of care with these vulnerable population, it’s really your responsibility to have a plan in case for what is going to happen,” said the state’s governor DeSantis earlier on Thursday.

Stay updated with the map here.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis sent a letter to the White House on Thursday, requesting a pre-landfall disaster declaration from President Trump ahead of Hurricane Dorian. 

 “I am confident the President will grant my request and show his full support for Florida,” he added.

According to the governor’s press release, the declaration will provide important resources and assistance from the federal government, as well as free up funding sources for emergency protective measures.

NASA has captured data from Hurricane Dorian, which is expected to hit Florida’s coast this weekend. The space agency’s Aqua satellite has an atmospheric infrared sounder, which is used to map the temperature, humidity, cloud amounts and heights in the Earth’s atmosphere.

In the image below, taken on Thursday afternoon, the purple area signals cold clouds carried high into the atmosphere by thunderstorms – also signaling heavy rainfall. Blue and green indicate warmer areas with shallower rain clouds, while the orange and red represent mostly cloud-free air.

Hurricane Dorian at 1:30 p.m. ET on Aug. 29, 2019.

The US Navy has ordered evacuation for aircraft at the Naval Air Station Jacksonville and ships at the Naval Station Mayport.

Both the air station and port are located on Florida’s East Coast, where the hurricane is expected to hit first. The aircraft and ships will begin evacuating on Friday to Navy bases in the southeast and mid-Atlantic.

Florida residents buy supplies in preparation for Hurricane Dorian on August 29, 2019 in Orlando, Florida.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said in a press release that the state is preparing for Hurricane Dorian with all available resources, with 2,500 Florida National Guard members activated and another 1,500 on standby.

The governor is also working with federal, state, and local emergency officials to prepare for the storm, which is forecasted to hit the state’s east coast as a major hurricane – possibly even a Category 4, the statement said.

Here’s how the state is preparing:

Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia said Thursday that President Donald Trump’s change in tone on Hurricane Dorian after it was announced that the storm will make landfall in Florida, skirting Puerto Rico, is because the state “is not an island full of people of color.”

“Well, part of it is that Florida could be a swing state in 2020. And part of it is Florida is not an island full of people of color. We have seen him again and again pick on anywhere color is involved,” Beyer, a Democratic House member told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Thursday.

Disney Cruise Lines plans to operate its popular 4,000-passenger Disney Dream out of Port Canaveral to the Bahamas despite Dorian.

The company has added two extra nights and turned the trip into a five-night sailing journey returning on Wednesday. The cruise was initially set to arrive back in Florida on the same day Dorian is expected to make landfall.

“We will continue to monitor weather forecasts throughout your sailing and adjust as needed,” the cruise line said in a statement.

The cruise line is giving options to passengers do not want to sail on the updated itineraries. It’s unclear whether the company has canceled any other routes. 

The International Space Station’s camera is keeping an eye on Dorian from above.

The camera captured the powerful storm around 1 p.m. Thursday as it roared over the Atlantic Ocean, north of Puerto Rico.

Classes at the University of Central Florida and schools in Martin County will be canceled at least until Tuesday, officials said.

Bethune-Cookman University, a private, historically black university in Daytona Beach, Florida will also be closed beginning Friday until further notice, university officials said.

University officials said students living on campus who are not able to evacuate the city will be taken to a shelter in the area.

The US Air Force is evacuating 16 KC-135s aircraft from MacDill Air Force Base near Tampa, Florida to McConnell AFB in Kansas, a US Air Force official told CNN.

The US Navy is also expected to move out to sea US warships in port at the US Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville, Florida

Employees at a Walmart store in St. Augustine, Florida have been busy restocking shelves as residents continue searching for supplies ahead of Hurricane Dorian.

But shoppers could not find any water bottles or gallons in the store as of Thursday afternoon.

The University of Miami has canceled classes at the Coral Gables, marine and medical campuses from noon Friday through Tuesday, the university said in a press release. 

Classes will resume on Wednesday.

All university events scheduled for the Labor Day weekend have been canceled on the Coral Gables and marine campuses.

In an abundance of caution, the University is putting up storm shutters and positioning sandbags near doorways on the Coral Gables, marine, and medical campuses.

Hurricane Dorian is still a Category 1 storm with sustained winds of 85 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center’s 5 p.m. ET advisory.

Dorian is expected to strengthen into a Category 4 hurricane by Sunday, with 130 mph winds, near the Bahamas.

Here’s the latest path:

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has declared a state of emergency for the state ahead of Hurricane Dorian.

The State of Emergency is for these counties:

The state of emergency is for a period of 11 days, beginning today and ending on September 9.

Since Hurricane Dorian left minimal impacts on Puerto Rico, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is now shifting teams to one of the storm’s next targets: Florida.

FEMA associate administrator Jeffrey Byard told reporters on Thursday that the agency has gotten “no request” to help in Puerto Rico or the US Virgin Islands.

Puerto Rico, still recovering from Hurricane Maria in 2017, was expected the storm to exacerbate the existing damage to infrastructure, but the island was largely spared.

Byard added that federal officials are bracing for a “big storm” that warrants a “big response” with a multi-billion dollar price tag. 

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell commemorated the 14th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina today during a wreath-laying ceremony.

LaToya and other public officials gathered at the Katrina Memorial on Canal Street to remember the victims of the storm, which made landfall near Grand Isle, Louisiana, in 2005 as a Category 3 storm with winds near 127 mph.

Some other facts and figures on Hurricane Katrina:

As the Hurricane Dorian approaches, President Trump will no longer travel to Poland on Saturday, a person familiar confirms to CNN.

Hurricane Dorian is spinning in the Atlantic, heading toward Florida.

At 85 mph, Dorian is the strongest storm of the Atlantic hurricane season so far.

If Dorian continues on its current forecast….

Palm Beach County schools will be open as normal tomorrow, officials announced at an afternoon news conference.

Officials are still monitoring the path of Hurricane Dorian, and they will access over the weekend after the storm hits. 

Governor Ron DeSantis reviews Dorian's path

Gov. Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency for all 67 Florida counties — up from 26 counties yesterday.

During a press conference Thursday afternoon, DeSantis also discussed Florida’s nursing home facilities and how 94.6% of them are in compliance with the state requirement.

Other highlight’s from the governor’s press conference:

The National Hurricane Center dispatched its Gulfstream IV-SP “hurricane hunter” aircraft into the Atlantic this afternoon to collect data on Hurricane Dorian as it works its way toward Florida’s coast.

The team aboard the Gulfstream is made up of Capt. Kristie Twining, Cmdr. Rebecca Waddington, and Lt. Lindsey Norman who made National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) history Aug. 5, 2018, as the first all-female crew to pilot an aircraft during a hurricane mission. The mission was for Hurricane Hector near Hawaii. The three women dropped atmospheric monitoring devices called dropsondes to collect temperature, pressure, wind speed, wind direction and humidity data–all crucial to creating NOAA’s hurricane forecasts, NOAA reported.

All three women were interviewed by NOAA for a story on their careers in February. In it, Waddington discussed what it’s like being a woman in aviation and uniformed service:

Check out the route Waddington and the crew took on their Dorian mission Thursday here.

As Florida waits for another hurricane, a Publix in St. Johns decided to sweeten the situation by decorating a cookie cake with the path of the storm.

Customer Jessica Sullivan posted a picture of the hurricane themed Dorian cookie cake on her Facebook page with the caption: “Publix has all your hurricane party supplies.”

Sullivan spotted the cookie when she stopped in to buy a birthday cake for her son and saw the cookie. Big storms usually scare her boys, so she thought getting the cookie cake would help.

But a bit of bad news: There was only one left.

The Publix store had no comment on the cake decoration.

West Palm Beach Mayor Keith James told residents to make sure they have enough water and prepare for evacuations ahead of Hurricane Dorian.

James said they are preparing for the worst and hoping for the best as the city watches the forecast of the hurricane.

He advised residents have one gallon of water per person for five days. He also told residents to pay attention to city alerts and future evacuations.

Hurricane Dorian, currently a Category 1 storm, is expected to intensify as it churns toward the Atlantic coast of the US.

The National Hurricane Center will provide its next update at 5 p.m. ET. Until then, here’s what you need to know about Dorian:

Hurricane Dorian is forecast to hit Florida on Monday as a Category 4 hurricane.

Here’s the day-by-day look at what we’re expecting:

Carnival has modified some of its cruise ship itineraries in the Caribbean and Bahamas in preparation for Hurricane Dorian.  

The company will update its guests and travel partners with information on their cruises and posting updates on its website and on social media.

Carnival provided the following itinerary changes to ships leaving from following east coast ports:

MIAMI

Carnival Victory 8/30 (modified itinerary)

Carnival Sensation 8/31 (modified itinerary)

Carnival will monitor the path of the storm for the below sailings which are scheduled to operate as normal at this time:

FORT LAUDERDALE

Carnival Magic 8/25 (modified itinerary)

The path of the storm will continue to be monitored the below sailing which is scheduled to operate as normal:

TAMPA

The following trips are scheduled to operate as normal for right now:

PORT CANAVERAL

Carnival Breeze 8/24 (modified itinerary)

 The following trips are scheduled to operate as normal, for now:

There is a possibility that Carnival Elation and Carnival Liberty may not be able to return to Port Canaveral on Monday. If the port is closed, ships will be in position to dock as soon as authorities have reopened the port.

JACKSONVILLE

The following trip is scheduled to operate as normal:

CHARLESTON

Carnival Sunshine 8/29 (modified itinerary)

 The following trip is scheduled to operate as normal for now:

There is a possibility that Carnival Sunshine may not be able to return to the Port of Charleston on Monday. If the port is closed, the ship will be in position to dock as soon as authorities have reopened the port.

NEW YORK

Carnival Sunrise 8/27 (modified itinerary)

The US Navy Wing Eleven in Jacksonville, Florida, will be sending a fleet of planes to Michigan, Ohio and Texas in preparation of Hurricane Dorian’s landfall.

Naval Air Station PAO Kaylee LaRocque told CNN that they are starting to fly out the P-8A Poseidon and P-3C Orion aircraft today:

Hurricane Dorian is forecast to hit Florida as a Category 4 hurricane over Labor Day weekend.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has urged residents to prepare for the storm now.

So what should you do first? Here’s a checklist to help you get started, with tips from the American Red Cross, Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Department of Homeland Security and the National Hurricane Center

Examples of past space travel stand in the "Rocket Garden" at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex

Kennedy Space Center’s visitor center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, will likely be closed on Sunday and Monday because of Hurricane Dorian, the space center said in a statement.

The space center said the complex will be open during normal business hours on Saturday — 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. However, there will be no bus tours or special interest tours. 

A Southwest Airlines passenger jet makes its final approach to Tampa International Airport

Major airlines are issuing travel waivers for passengers traveling through Florida ahead of Hurricane Dorian.

Here’s how some airlines are handling the hurricane: 

The Florida State Seminoles

Florida State University’s Saturday football game against Boise State will be played in Tallahassee due to the uncertainty of the Dorian, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said

The game was supposed to be played in Jacksonville, on Florida’s Atlantic coast.

“After consulting with emergency responders, law enforcement and hurricane preparedness teams at the state and local level, moving the game is the best option given the information we have at this time,” FSU Director of Athletics David Coburn said in statement Thursday.

All tickets previously purchased for the game in Jacksonville will be refunded, the school said. Florida State will sell $10.00 general admission tickets online.  

A NASA Earth satellite is estimating rainfall rates for Hurricane Dorian as it moves through the Atlantic Ocean.

The space agency tweeted that the storm is “packing heavy rains as it moves toward the Bahamas.”

“Our @NASAEarth satellite has the ability to peer under the “hood” or clouds of a storm and estimate the rainfall rates occurring,” NASA said.

Take a look:

There’s a reason why these maps are called spaghetti models. Just take a look. There are lines all over the place.

Also known as spaghetti plots, these models show where a tropical system, such as a hurricane, may go.

Here’s how to read them: The forecast track from each model is represented by a line. When these are all plotted together, they can look like a bunch of spaghetti.

Sometimes they spread out and go all over the place. That is a good indication that there is low confidence in where the storm is likely to go.

However, when they are all packed in close together, the forecaster can be more confident in where the storm is going.

Read more about spaghetti models here.

Inmates in Pasco County, Florida, are continuing to work on sandbagging efforts in preparation for Hurricane Dorian. The storm is expected to make landfall over Labor Day weekend as a Category 4 storm.

A photo of the inmates working was tweeted this morning by the Pasco Sheriff’s Office along a schedule for sandbagging operations.

These inmates are not paid but are part of the department’s crew of non-violent offenders who receive time off of their sentence for working, Kevin Doll, community relations director with Pasco Sheriff’s Office, told CNN.

“We typically have inmates assist with sandbag operations for citizens in every emergency storm situation,” Doll said. “I have been here 21 years, and they have been doing it at least that amount of time. Inmate work crews can be from anywhere from five to 10 inmates, depending on the job at hand, including sandbagging.”

Here’s a list of locations for sandbag pickup:

Dorian is currently Category 1 storm with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph.

The hurricane is forecast to increase significantly in not only strength but also in size as it approaches the Southeastern US, becoming a Category 4 storm before it makes landfall in Florida.

Categories of hurricanes are defined by their wind speeds:

Here’s a look at other major storms’ wind speeds:

Remember: While wind speeds dictate a storm’s category, other factors can determine storms’ strength. Bigger storms make for wider-spreading impacts and also make storm surge worse as they build up a bigger swell.

Here’s a look at forecast winds for Hurricane Dorian:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state currently have one million gallons of drinking water.

The state also has more than one million meals available for those who need it ahead of Hurricane Dorian, DeSantis said during a news conference this morning.

The Pasco County Board of County Commissioners has issued a local state of emergency ahead of Hurricane Dorian, according to a tweet from the county’s sheriff. 

What this does: The declaration allows officials to waive everyday procedures and do what they feel is necessary to ensure the health, safety and welfare of the community. This includes:

The local state of emergency will be in effect for 7 days or until rescinded by the County Administrator if it’s no longer needed.

Here’s the tweet:

Hurricane Dorian is forecast to be a Category 4 hurricane when it makes landfall in Florida over Labor Day weekend, according to the National Hurricane Center’s latest advisory.

The storm, which is currently a Category 1 with 85 mph maximum sustained winds, is about 370 miles off the coast of the Southeastern Bahamas.

Here’s a look at the latest predicted path:

While Hurricane Dorian has not been caused by the climate crisis, we do know that climate change is making hurricanes more dangerous.

Here’s how:

Hurricane Dorian expected to make landfall on the Atlantic coast of Florida, where there are 11 Trump Organization-owned properties.

There are no evacuation orders in place yet, and CNN has reached out to the Trump Organization for updates on whether they plan to close any of the properties.

Here’s where the Trump properties are located:

Compare that to Dorian’s possible path:

How Trump properties have handled hurricanes in the past: As Florida braced for Hurricane Irma in 2017, Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property closed for hurricane preparations following a mandatory evacuation order.

As CNN reported at the time, Secret Service is not obligated to maintain a presence at the club during a hurricane because it is not a permanent protected property, according to former Secret Service agent Jonathan Wackrow, a CNN contributor.

When Trump isn’t there, the local West Palm Beach Secret Service field office stays in close communication with Secret Service, but that doesn’t mean it’s fully staffed. Procedurally, Secret Service treats a trip to Mar-a-Lago as “bespoke,” just like any short-term presidential trip to a Seattle Sheraton or a Phoenix Marriott, sweeping and securing the facility and taking electronic countermeasures beforehand, Wackrow said. 

President Trump said Florida is “going to be totally ready and Puerto Rico was totally ready” for Hurricane Dorian, which is expected to hit the US over Labor Day weekend.

Trump made the comment this morning during a call in to Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade Show. He thanked FEMA and “all of the first responders.”

On Tuesday, the Trump administration announced plans to shift $155 million from FEMA’s disaster relief fund to immigration priorities — which, along with FEMA, is a responsibility of the Department of Homeland Security.

A FEMA spokeswoman said the agency has sufficient funding and acknowledged the challenges of responding to Dorian “on top of a complex recovery effort” from the earlier storms.

Hurricane Dorian is putting a wrench in Grove Roots Brewing production schedule. The Winter Haven, Florida, beer company shut down brewing operations for at least a week because of the storm.

“We are worried about losing power, which causes a whole string of issues with an actively fermenting beer,” owner Joe Dunham said. “Power outages will take down our cooling systems that keep the fermenters cold and our large coolers holding finished product.”

But instead of letting their sterilized fermenters sit idle, they’re going to be put to use to help the community.

Dunham said they’re filling them with 1,500 of drinking water for residents in case there’s water quality issues post-storm.

“We are first and foremost a community-centric brewery,” Dunham says. “We believe in our small town and will do all we can to help people. If the need arises, we will have plenty of water to share. It’s the least we can do for the community we love.”

Here’s a look at the fermenters turned water tanks:

As it opens, the signature attraction and ride at Disneyland's Galaxy's Edge is the full-scale, 100-plus-foot-long, movie-perfect Millennium Falcon.

Walt Disney World Resort’s Hollywood Studios opened its new Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge park expansion Thursday while Florida braces for Hurricane Dorian. The park opened roughly four months after Disneyland in Anaheim, California, opened its own version inspired by the film series.

Disney has yet to announce any disruption in its opening weekend plans as of Thursday morning. The storm is expected to hit Florida’s Atlantic Coast by Labor Day.

Here are some more details about Disney’s newest attraction:

Arthur Sanders went to a Wawa in Port St. Lucie, Florida, this morning to top off his gas tank before work, and he got caught up with other Floridians filling up ahead of Hurricane Dorian.  

This is the second hurricane he’s preparing for: He also lived through Hurricane Irma in 2017. 

He still needs to get a few supplies but is mostly ready. He said he’ll put up hurricane shutters on Saturday, and he plans to ride out the storm with nearby family.

Here’s a look at the gas line this morning:

Brooke Koontz was at the Walmart in Port Orange, Florida Wednesday night buying things to prepare for Hurricane Dorian. 

When she got there she saw some shelves were already empty.

Thankfully, soon after she got there, employees brought out a pallet of water.

“It was gone in seconds,” she told CNN. “People were trying to race.”  

This is the third hurricane Koontz has prepared for. She lived through Hurricanes Matthew and Irma.  

She says she’s stocked up with about five to seven days of food but still needs to buy some small pools for her dogs in case they are without air conditioning for awhile.

If you’re looking for the 8 a.m. ET Hurricane Dorian update, it’s not coming.

The next update from the National Hurricane Center will come at 11 a.m. ET.

Here’s why: The National Hurricane Center releases new advisories every three hours — at 2, 5, 8 and 11, both a.m. and p.m. — when tropical storm or hurricane watches and warnings in place.

But Dorian is over water right now, and no area is under a watch or warning.

Under these conditions, the center only releases advisories every six hours: at 5 a.m., 11 a.m., 5 p.m. and 11 p.m.

The 5 a.m. ET advisory is the latest, which reported that Dorian has maximum sustained winds of 85 mph.

Here’s a look at the latest predicted path:

President Trump this morning tweeted about Hurricane Dorian, which is forecast to hit Florida’s Atlantic Coast over Labor Day weekend.

“Be prepared and please follow State and Federal instructions,” he said.

Last night, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he spoke with Trump to give him an update on Dorian:

Carnival Cruise Line is making some itinerary changes to avoid Hurricane Dorian.

Here’s a look at how the company is changing its routes:

Parts of Florida could feel tropical-storm-force winds as early as Saturday evening, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The center urged residents to make preparations now ahead of Hurricane Dorian.

Dorian, currently a Category 1 storm, is forecast to grow into a major Category 3 over Labor Day weekend before landing in Florida.

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