Hurricane Dorian rakes Carolinas as it moves up the coast

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Hurricane Dorian raked the Carolina coast with howling, window-rattling winds and sideways rain Thursday, spinning off tornadoes and knocking out power to more than 200,000 homes and businesses as it pushed northward toward the dangerously exposed Outer Banks.

Leaving at least 20 people dead in its wake in the Bahamas, Dorian swept past Florida on Wednesday at a relatively safe distance, grazed Georgia overnight, and then began hugging the South Carolina-North Carolina coastline with more serious effects.

As of midday, it was a Category 2, blowing at 110 miles per hour — a far cry from the Category 5 that mauled the Bahamas, but still dangerous.

About 1 million people in the two states were warned to evacuate.

“Get to safety and stay there,” North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said.

“This won’t be a brush-by. Whether it comes ashore or not, the eye of the storm will be close enough to cause extensive damage in North Carolina.”

At least three deaths were reported on the U.S. mainland, two in Florida and one in North Carolina, all involving men who were trimming trees or otherwise getting ready for the storm.

The National Hurricane Center’s projected track showed Dorian passing near or over North Carolina’s Outer Banks on Friday, lashing the thin line of islands that stick out from the U.S. coast like a boxer’s chin.

Dorian was then expected to peel away from the shoreline.

The National Hurricane Center forecast as much as 15 inches of rain for the coastal Carolinas, with flash-flooding likely.

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