Hurricane Dorian continued its assault on the Bahamas overnight with, dropping just below Category 5 status this morning while making a slow westward move that was forecast to bring the dangerous storm up the east coast of Florida.
The storm is blamed for at least one death, according to the Bahamas Press, with several people missing as the storm slammed into Great Abaco and Grand Bahama Island on Sunday as the largest hurricane the Bahamas had ever endured in modern history. It grew Sunday to 185 mph sustained winds with 220 mph gusts.
In its 11 a.m. update, the National Hurricane Center said Hurricane Dorian maximum sustained winds had dropped to 155 mph, making it a Category 4 hurricane with gusts still up to 190 mph. The storm continues to slog over Grand Bahama Island, about 30 miles east of Freeport, Grand Bahama and about 110 miles east of West Palm Beach.
The cone of uncertainty still includes much of east Central Florida including just east of downtown Orlando and a hurricane warning for Florida’s east coast was increased to go from Jupiter Inlet up to the Volusia-Flagler county line.
Stella's Place 
Here’s a question…or two:
When we see a hurricane on TV we see a huge fluffy thing floating across the ocean/sea/Gulf. We don’t think it’s a huge mass of water floating thru the air, billions of gallons of water – so how much does Dorian weigh? You figure that Florence was guesstimated to have dropped some 18 billion gallons n- that’s a lotta water being held up there, spun around in suspension and moved between ground, air and back to ground.
Now, you think of what that storm weighs and it’s forward speed – that is a LOT of forward momentum. Let’s say we have a hurricane composed of 18-BILLION gallons of water (8 pounds a gallon) moving forward at a paltry 8 miles per hour – how much energy, in joules let’s say does it take to move that storm in a 45-degree change of direction?
Ain’t the world a wondrous place?
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I am amazed and impressed at how you think and the things you can think of. 😀
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It’s just a measure of how puny we really are in comparison to forces made eons before we were. Think how the fools running for office or jockeying for position in the Global Climate Change travelling road show try to maker people think they can unravel the trend by recycling plastic water bottles and turning the AC down at night. These things are far bigger than we are and people just ignore it.
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Waiting on this hurricane is agonizing. I can’t imagine being over on the East coast of Florida.
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Prayers for you Aus and your fellow Floridians.
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Thank you. I can’t complain too much. My friend wants me to go to the movies with her tomorrow. 🙄 She is very nervous about it coming, and I guess she just wants a little relief worrying about it. I really don’t think we have much to worry about unless Dorian decides to turn left instead of right and come straight across us.
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Hopefully it hugs the coast and goes away. Stay safe, if there is no flooding a movie night be a nice distraction.
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Just heard from a shirttail cousin on Facebook – Mandatory evacuation in Savannah started at noon. 8 am I16 closed. Traffic west-bound only.
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May that grand lady of the old South and her people fare well. Savannah has a piece of my heart.
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I only visited Savannah once and totally fell in love with it. I have talked off and on about going back to visit. I hope it will still be there.
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