Hurricane Dorian Leaves the Caribbean, Heads for the Atlantic

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The newly-renamed Hurricane Dorian has exited the Caribbean Sea, heading into the Atlantic, leaving a trail of heavy rain.

While parts of The Bahamas could remain in the crosshairs of the storm, the region emerged from Dorian largely unscathed and without major incidents, damage or injuries, although there were periodic power outages in parts of the region, according to the most recent reports.

Indeed, Puerto Rico, the only Caribbean territory that faced something of a “direct” hit from the storm at hurricane strength, fared rather well, with Governor Wanda Vazquez Garced announcing that public schools and government offices would reopen on Thursday for normal business.

The storm did mean massive amounts of rain in the southeastern Caribbean and, most recently, heavy wind and rain in the USVI, Puerto Rico, the BVI, Vieques and Culebra.

On Thursday morning, the storm was in the Atlantic, about 425 miles southeast of the southeastern Bahamas, with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph.

While the path of the storm in the Atlantic was slated to keep it well east of the southeastern and central Bahamas later this week, parts of the northern Bahamas like Abaco and Grand Bahama, remained in the projected path of the storm later this weekend.

Much can change over the next few days, however, as the storm is currently projected to make landfall on the east coast of Florida.

All hurricane warnings and watches have been discontinued in the wider Caribbean region.

It was a strong message of the Caribbean’s renewed focus on storm resilience and readiness in the wake of the crippling storms of 2017.

“The system allowed us to mobilize and focus on some areas,” said Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley. “The work done made a significant difference in our state of readiness.”

— CJ