Following Hurricane Dorian reaching category five-level winds, Heritage Plantation closed school Tuesday, September 3. While school resumed session Wednesday, September 4, the now category two, record-breaking beast is more than just a reason to miss school.
“We follow Broward County in situations like this. So as soon as the county announced they were closing we followed suit. In this case, the reason for closing was the prediction of winds above 40mph. The buses cannot run when winds exceed 40mph so that means we cannot open school,” high school principal Mrs. Elise Blum said.
Dorian continues to head northbound since it reached the required atmospheric pressures to sustain travel forward. Due to a decrease in pressure, it was at a standstill in the Bahamas until Tuesday, Sept. 3. The Red Cross estimates that around 13,000 homes are impacted by Dorian and there are over forty current deaths in the Bahamas due to storm surge and one death in Florida. A 68-year-old man fell three stories to his death after trying to secure hurricane shutters in Florida.
Dorian is now past Florida and moving past Georgia. The storm is predicted to settle past Canada by Monday evening, September 9.
Hurricane Dorian’s winds reached 150 miles per hour in the Bahamas, similar to Irma’s 155 miles per hour winds last year. With warming waters and higher sea levels, more coastal hitting and strong hurricanes are projected to appear in upcoming years. Models even predict a 45-87% increase in category four and five storms.
In order to help the Bahamian victims, Heritage is hosting a relief drive until Monday, September 9. Help for the Bahamas continues past the school though, Carnival Corporation pledged $2 million dollars in relief efforts and an anonymous man from Florida bought 100 generators to send to the Bahamas via boat.
The NOAA weather service issued an address contradicting its weather scientists to instead support President Donald Trump’s claim that the hurricane would hit Alabama. While the current weather models predict otherwise, the agency communication’s statement stands: Dorian may impact Alabama. For now, their scientist’s models predict Dorian will be heading toward Nova Scotia by Sept. 9.
