Hurricane Dorian: Get a live look from Puerto Rico’s coastline as dangerous storm bears down
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - As Dorian became a Category 1 hurricane on Wednesday, live camera feeds in Puerto Rico were set up to capture the storm’s impacts.
Surfline, a marine forecasting company, has positioned live-stream cameras in various locations across the island, including Maria’s Beach Front in Rincon, Puntas, Jobos and La Ocho.
Dorian approached the U.S. Virgin Islands just as it reached hurricane force. The British Virgin Islands and the Puerto Rican islands of Vieques and Culebra were also in Dorian's path.
Officials in the U.S. territory were worried the storm could bring landslides, widespread flooding and power outages in what could be the first major test of emergency preparedness since the 2017 devastation of Hurricane Maria.
A hurricane warning was in effect for Puerto Rico, with Dorian expected to dump 4 to 6 inches of rain with isolated amounts of up to 8 inches.
It's a forecast that worries many in Puerto Rico because blue tarps still cover some 30,000 homes nearly two years after Hurricane Maria. The island's 3.2 million inhabitants also depend on an unstable power grid that remains prone to outages since it was destroyed by Maria, a Category 4 storm.
A reported 23,000 customers were without power across Puerto Rico by early Wednesday afternoon, according to Ángel Figueroa, president of a union that represents power workers.
Workers of the Emergency Operation Centre (COE) monitor Tropical Storm Dorian in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on August 27, 2019. Tropical Storm Dorian intensified Tuesday as it approached the Caribbean on a track that will take it near Puerto
In the U.S. Virgin Islands, which is still struggling to recover from hurricanes Irma and Maria, officials were reporting power outages and light rain by 1:30 p.m. EDT.
Forecasters said Hurricane Dorian could grow to Category 3 status as it nears the U.S. mainland, pushing northwest in the general direction of Florida.
Dennis Feltgen, a National Hurricane Center meteorologist in Miami, said Dorian may grow in size and could land anywhere from South Florida to South Carolina on Sunday or Monday.
"This will be a large storm approaching the Southeast," he said.
Dorian prompted President Donald Trump to declare a state of emergency Tuesday night and order federal assistance for local authorities.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. This story was reported from Los Angeles.