Tornado warnings issued for parts of NC and SC coast as Hurricane Dorian skims coast
The National Weather Service rolled out multiple tornado warnings Thursday morning for northeastern South Carolina and southeastern North Carolina as Hurricane Dorian slowly churned up the East Coast.
A new tornado warning was issued at 1:05 p.m. for Watha and Willard in North Carolina until 1:30 p.m. at 12:28 p.m. Tornado warnings for La Grange, Pink Hill and Calypso were continuing until 1:15 p.m.
The National Weather Service is providing continuous updates via its Twitter page @NWStornado.
Roughly 50 tornado warnings covering dozens of small communities and cities were announced between 4 a.m. and 1 p.m. Thursday. The threat was expected to remain for eastern North Carolina through Thursday night.
The National Weather Service has issued a tornado watch for southeastern North Carolina until 7 p.m. Thursday, from Fayetteville, Rocky Mount and Smithfield east to Kill Devil Hills and down to Jacksonville.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, in a mid-morning address, asked the public in the eastern part of the state to find a secure shelter and stay there for the time being. Officials advise finding shelter in a sturdy, preferably ground-floor room away from windows, doors and exterior walls.
At least two tornadoes were reported to have touched down Thursday morning, causing damage in Horry County near Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. Another tornado was reported around 7 a.m. in Pender County, North Carolina.
A confirmed waterspout also was located early Thursday “just offshore” near Myrtle Beach, according to the National Weather Service.
A tornado watch also is in effect for the region extending past Myrtle Beach, including Pawleys Island and Marion, S.C., and Wilmington, Whiteville, Elizabethtown and Burgaw in North Carolina.
Hurricane Dorian was downgraded to a Category 2 storm around 11 a.m. Thursday. The National Weather Service reported that it was 50 miles south of Charleston and 140 miles south of Wilmington.
It was moving at 8 mph with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph.
The National Weather Service in Charleston reported winds between 60 to 70 mph in parts of the Charleston region, including Isle of Palms, Fort Sumter and Folly Beach.
In Hilton Head, the airport measured winds of 53 mph but other parts of Beaufort are in the mid-40s in terms of windspeed.
South Carolina has been hit with power outages overnight, with over 200,000 reported as of 10 a.m. Duke Energy was expecting to see at least 700,000 power outages throughout its Carolinas region from the storm.
This story was originally published September 5, 2019 at 11:35 AM with the headline "Tornado warnings issued for parts of NC and SC coast as Hurricane Dorian skims coast."