Coastal Carolina counties evacuated ahead of Hurricane Dorian

Several evacuations have been ordered across the Carolinas have been ordered as the path of Hurricane Dorian remains in question.

South Carolina Gov.  Henry McMaster ordered a mandatory evacuation for residents of the state’s coastal counties beginning at noon Monday. He also ordered all schools and state government buildings in those counties closed beginning Tuesday.

On North Carolina’s Outer Banks, officials in Dare County ordered an evacuation for all visitors beginning at noon on Tuesday and residents beginning at 6 a.m. Wednesday.

The town of Beaufort, in Carteret County, has declared a state of emergency but no mandatory evacuation orders have been issued. 

WSOC reports that Charlotte Motor Speedway is opening its campgrounds for evacuees and WPDE reports that more than 800 Airbnb hosts have made their homes available for free to those evacuating the eastern coasts of Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia.

According to current predictions from the National Hurricane Center, Richmond County should see less than an inch of rain from Dorian, which hit the Bahamas Sunday as a Category 5 storm. However, the area could feel tropical-storm-force winds on Wednesday.

Dorian is expected to remain off the coast of the Southeastern U.S. through the end of the week and will result in coastal flooding.