Hurricane Dorian continues to pound Southeastern U.S. coast

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Blustery wind and sideways rain lashed the low-lying coast of South and North Carolina on Thursday as Hurricane Dorian churned offshore, downing power lines and stately live oak trees, spawning tornadoes and threatening hundreds of thousands of coastal residents with intense flooding.

Bill Olesner ventures out into flooded streets in 

Charleston, S.C., to clean debris from storm drains.

After pummeling the Bahamas as a Category 5 hurricane, killing more than 20 people, the erratic and wobbly storm weakened early in the week, only to pick up strength briefly overnight Wednesday and then weaken again. By Thursday evening, Dorian was a Category 2 as it moved about 30 miles south of Cape Fear, N.C., with maximum sustained winds of 100 mph.

While South Carolina fared better than expected — Gov. Henry McMaster lifted evacuation orders early Thursday afternoon for three of eight coastal counties — North Carolina was still at risk of tornadoes, storm surge and flash flooding. Major river flooding was expected at the Northeast Cape Fear River near Burgaw.

Read the story from The Los Angeles Times by Jenny Jarvie - “Hurricane Dorian continues to pound Southeastern U.S. coast."