Dorian strengthens to category four hurricane as it menaces Bahamas en route to Florida

Forecasters fear that Dorian could become the most powerful hurricane to hit Florida’s east coast in 30 years

Millions of people in Florida could be affected, with a state of emergency declared and some counties already ordering evacuations

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Hurricane Dorian is seen approaching The Bahamas and Florida. Photo: AFP

Published: 8:10pm, 31 Aug 2019Updated: 8:14pm, 31 Aug 2019

Hurricane Dorian has gained fearsome new muscle as an “extremely dangerous” category four storm, bearing down on the northwestern Bahamas early on Saturday en route to the east coast of the United States.

Millions of people in Florida, along with the state’s Walt Disney World and President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, are in the potential crosshairs of the hurricane. Forecasters say Dorian, which had top sustained winds of 225kph on Friday night, will threaten the Florida peninsula late on Monday or early on Tuesday.

But the National Hurricane Centre in Miami cautioned that its meteorologists remain uncertain whether Dorian would make a devastating direct strike on the state’s east coast or inflict a glancing blow. Some of the more reliable computer models predicted a late turn northward that would have Dorian hug the Florida coast. “There is hope,” Weather Underground meteorology director Jeff Masters said.

Florida residents fill sandbags ahead of Hurricane Dorian. Photo: AP

The faint hope of dodging Dorian’s fury came on Friday, even as the storm ratcheted up from a menacing category three hurricane to an even more dangerous category four. That raised fears Dorian could become the most powerful hurricane to hit Florida’s east coast in nearly 30 years.

National Hurricane Centre projections showed Dorian hitting roughly near Fort Pierce, some 113km north of Mar-a-Lago, then running along the coastline as it moved north. But forecasters cautioned that the storm’s track remains still highly uncertain and even a small deviation could put Dorian offshore – or well inland.