Florida residents fill sandbags, board up as Hurricane Dorian spins up to category 5

Record ID: 1429563

  • Title: Florida residents fill sandbags, board up as Hurricane Dorian spins up to category 5
  • Date: 1st September 2019
  • Summary: CLAY COUNTY, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES (SEPTEMBER 1, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS, PEOPLE FILLING SANDBAGS AT PARK, LOADING THEM UP ON TRUNK OF TRUCK (SOUNDBITE) (English) JAEMILL WOOD, 58, SAYING: "We just cleaned up the yard and, you know, tried to get away, put away anything that would blow away, or cause a problem so I'm actually doing this for my mother-in-law because she's in a neighborhood that tends to get a little bit of water in the streets." VARIOUS, PEOPLE FILLING SANDBAGS AT PARK, LOADING THEM UP ON TRUNK OF TRUCK (SOUNDBITE) (English) EMMETTE KESSLER, 30, SAYING: "We live in a residential neighborhood so right now it's going to be for our garages and low lying areas because our neighborhood holds a lot of water. If we get a good day of rain the water is going to come up so we're just trying to keep the water from getting in our houses a little bit as best as we can." PEOPLE FILLING SANDBAGS VARIOUS, WOOD LEAVING SANDBAG FILLING SITE JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES (SEPTEMBER 1, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SANDBAGS PILED UP OUTSIDE DOWNTOWN BUILDINGS / WIND BLOWING VARIOUS, PEOPLE BUYING PLYWOOD AT HOME DEPOT VARIOUS, ESTEBAN GARCES PALACIOS AND FAMILY LOADING PLYWOOD INTO THEIR TRUCK (SOUNDBITE) (English) ESTEBAN GARCES PALACIOS, SAYING: "If it gets closer or a little bit worse we may move somewhere else, go somewhere else at least in the meantime so we're just going to be watching and see what we do." VARIOUS, BOARDED UP HOMES ON JACKSONVILLE BEACH / WIND BLOWING VARIOUS, STORM COMING INTO JACKSONVILLE BEACH, SOME PEOPLE LEAVING BEACH / WIND BLOWING
  • Embargoed: 15th September 2019 23:11
  • Keywords: Storm Dorian Florida preparations Clay County Jacksonville sandbags hurricane
  • Location: JACKSONVILLE + CLAY COUNTY, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES
  • City: JACKSONVILLE + CLAY COUNTY, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Wind/Hurricane/Typhoons/Tornadoes
  • Reuters ID: LVA001AUTUBT3
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: As Hurricane Dorian spun into one of the most powerful storms on record and slammed into the Bahamas, residents in northern Florida on Sunday (September 1) filled up sandbags and boarded up in anticipation of heavy winds and flooding.
    With winds at 185 mph, Dorian ties with Gilbert (1988), Wilma (2005) and the 1935 Labor Day hurricane for the second strongest Atlantic hurricane on record based on maximum sustained winds. Allen in 1980 was the most powerful with 190-mph winds, the NHC said.
    "We live in a residential neighborhood so right now it's going to be for our garages and low lying areas because our neighborhood holds a lot of water," said Emmette Kessler at a sandbag filling site. "If we get a good day of rain the water is going to come up so we're just trying to keep the water from getting in our houses a little bit as best as we can."
    Despite many models showing the storm staying offshore and following a similar path to that of Hurricane Matthew in 2016, Dorian's strength with maximum sustained winds of 185 miles per hour (295 km per hour) and gusts of more than 220 mph (354 kph) has many residents glued to updates looking at whether it shifts a few miles east or west, bringing either respite or disaster.
    "If it gets closer or a little bit worse we may move somewhere else, go somewhere else at least in the meantime so we're just going to be watching and see what we do," said 21-year-old Esteban Garces Palacios.
    In Florida, at least seven counties issued mandatory evacuations for some residents, including those in mobile homes, on barrier islands and in low-lying areas.
    In north Florida, residents seem most concerned with storm surge as Dorian nears the state's east coast and flooding of low lying, inland areas by rising rivers.
    (Production: Greg Savoy / Zachary Fagenson / Temis Tormo)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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