By COLlive staff
“Devastating” Hurricane Dorian was battering parts of the Bahamas overnight with punishing 165 mph maximum sustained winds — down from 185 mph earlier — and inching along on its path of destruction, the National Hurricane Center said.
The storm is perched perilously close to the Florida peninsula, and Monday is the critical day that is likely to determine whether the state is dealt a powerful blow or a less intense scrape, CBS reported.
The unpredictable nature of this particular storm made it hard for forecasters to say with certainty where it would hit and at what exact strength.
In Miami, the Lubavitch Educational Center has canceled school at all three campuses on Monday, with possible closure on Tuesday depending on conditions.
“After evaluating real weather and official data, we feel it is in the best interest for the safety of our staff,” the administration said in a letter to parents.
On Chabad of Palm Coast’s weekly Facebook post late last week, along with the Shabbat candle-lighting time associated with Daytona Beach, Florida, was a one-line addition that read “Stay safe this week!”
Rabbi Tzvi Konikov, co-director of Chabad in Brevard County with his wife, Shulamit, told Chabad.org people have been preparing for the storm for several days—boarding up homes, packing up essential items and stocking up on supplies.
“We have had volunteers who have offered to help people board up their homes,” said Konikov. “We’ve been involved in helping with all sorts of requests from people who need sandbags.”
Further to the south in Boca Raton, Ahuva and Rabbi Ruvi New, co-directors of Chabad of East Boca, spent part of Friday reaching out to people who needed help preparing for Dorian, even as its track remained unknown.
“We fielded numerous calls from people from out of town concerned about elderly relatives who are alone,” the rabbi told Chabad.org. “So we dispatched volunteers to purchase food, water, flashlights and other supplies for some of them.”
Though the hurricane center is now forecasting that Dorian would stay just off the U.S. coast as it makes its way up the seaboard, evacuations were ordered for parts of Florida and, later on Monday, the Georgia and South Carolina coasts.
South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster on Sunday ordered the evacuation of his state’s entire coast. The order, which covers about 830,000 people, was to take effect at noon Monday, at which point state troopers were to make all lanes on major coastal highways one-way heading inland.
Georgia’s Governor Brian Kemp ordered evacuations for that state’s Atlantic coast, also starting at midday Monday.
According to The Associated Press, more than 600 U.S. flights have been canceled for Monday as the nation prepares for Hurricane Dorian. Nearly half of those flights concerned routes either arriving or departing from Florida airports.
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport announced on Sunday that it would be closing at noon on Monday “until further notice.”
Cancellations also impacted North Carolina, Georgia, Maryland and other states. Approximately 336 flights were canceled for Sunday alone.
Live: Gov. DeSantis provides an update on Hurricane Dorian
Video: Devastation in Bahamas
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