US President Donald Trump on Thursday canceled a trip to Poland as Hurricane Dorian headed toward Florida, strengthening to a Category 2 storm.
Trump, who had been scheduled to attend World War II anniversary commemorations this weekend, said that he would focus instead on preparations for the approaching storm.
“Our highest priority is the safety and security of the people in the path of the hurricane,” he told reporters at the White House Rose Garden.
Photo: AP / US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
US Vice President Mike Pence would go to Poland in his place, Trump said.
Trump called Polish President Andrzej Duda to apologize for the cancelation, saying that the storm could be “catastrophic,” Duda’s chief of staff, Krzysztof Szczerski, was quoted as saying by the Polish Press Agency.
Dorian’s maximum sustained winds reached 165kph, making it a Category 2 storm on a five-level scale, the US National Hurricane Center said in an advisory.
Dorian could make landfall as a powerful Category 4 hurricane, with the potential to cause life-threatening storm surges, weather forecasters said.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency, warning the millions of people who live up and down the eastern coast of the “Sunshine State” to prepare for a potentially major hurricane.
“All Floridians really need to monitor Hurricane Dorian and make the necessary preparations,” DeSantis said. “Have your plan and make those preparations right now.”
Georgia — another southeastern state potentially in the storm’s path — followed suit for 12 counties.
The hurricane “has the potential to produce catastrophic impacts to citizens” throughout the southeast coastal region of the US, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said.
Trump, who has properties including the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, a politically important state for his 2020 re-election bid, also warned Floridians to get ready.
“Be prepared... it will be a very big Hurricane, perhaps one of the biggest!” he said on Twitter.
The US Coast Guard said that ocean-going commercial vessels should make plans to leave south Florida ports.
Miami’s Ocean Drive, a normally vibrant strip along the beach, was quiet, with some empty tables and fewer tourists than usual.
Grocery stores were full of shoppers making last-minute purchases of water, food, propane canisters and other supplies. There were lines at some gasoline stations as drivers filled up their tanks.
One shopper, Magdalena Gomez from Argentina, was preparing for her first hurricane.
“If they tell me to go buy water, I go buy water. I do everything they say,” she said.
A Rolling Stones concert originally scheduled for tonight was moved up by a day “due to the weather forecast,” the band said on Twitter.
“Strengthening is forecast during the next few days and Dorian is expected to become a major hurricane on Friday, and remain an extremely dangerous hurricane through the weekend,” the center said.
The US territory of Puerto Rico, still recovering from a powerful storm two years ago, was largely spared, but the center said that Dorian could dump up to 18cm of rain on some parts of the Bahamas.
New Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vazquez gave the all-clear, but there was no letup in the political storm involving Trump and San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz.
“Now that Dorian is going to the east coast let us hope that @RealDonaldTrump sets aside his prejudice and racism & moves the federal response to efficiency,” Cruz said on Twitter.
Trump declared a state of emergency in Puerto Rico ahead of Hurricane Dorian’s anticipated arrival, authorizing federal assistance, but said that the island is “one of the most corrupt places on earth” and its political system is “broken.”
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