Though thousands of residents had evacuated the region at the urging of government officials, many others stayed behind, where they endured tornadoes, power outages, flooding and tree-toppling winds. In low-lying Charleston, the water was knee-high in some streets, though by late afternoon, Shannon F. Scaff, the director of emergency management, said that the city of 136,000 had largely avoided major catastrophe.
“We got hit more than we have in other storms, but anybody familiar with Charleston would probably agree that we got very fortunate yet again,” Scaff said.
Farther north, where the Category 2 hurricane’s bands were just starting to be felt, there was lingering concern over winds that reached 105 mph, as well as a kind of war-weariness for a region still rebuilding from last year’s Hurricane Florence.
In the Bahamas, where some neighborhoods were reduced to rubble, the trauma was even more acute, with 23 deaths confirmed and authorities fearing many more. The death count “could be staggering,” Duane Sands, the minister of health, said Thursday.
Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida declared Dorian a “close call” on Thursday, and the storm became a Carolina problem.
Before dawn Thursday, winds had downed numerous trees and powerlines, and by breakfast time the South Carolina Emergency Management Division reported that more than 199,000 customers were without power. Areas where tornadoes were reported included North Myrtle Beach and Little River, South Carolina, and Wilmington, North Carolina.
By early afternoon, Gov. Henry McMaster of South Carolina lifted evacuation orders for three counties along the state’s southern coast — Jasper, Beaufort and Colleton — but cautioned residents there that they might encounter power losses, downed lines and dangerous flooding upon their return.
In North Carolina, Gov. Roy Cooper warned that the arrival of Dorian would bring “sustained winds up to 100 miles an hour, the threat of tornadoes and a high risk of dangerous flash floods.”
This article originally appeared in
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