Dorian regained strength to become a major Category 3 hurricane on Thursday as it churned towards the Carolinas, with forecasters warning coastal residents of potentially devastating storm surge flooding.
Dorian had weakened as it scraped past the Florida coast, after earlier causing catastrophic damage to the Bahamas as a Category 5 hurricane.
At least 20 people are known to have died as the storm battered the island chain for some 48 hours, ravaging the country with massive flooding, flattening entire neighbourhoods and stranding residents due to impassable high water.
The Miami-based National Hurricane Centre said early Thursday that Dorian was packing maximum sustained winds of 185 kilometres per hour.
It warned low-lying residents in the states of Georgia, South and North Carolina, and Virginia of “life-threatening inundation’’ from rising water.
Forecasters said Dorian’s centre should move near to, or over, the North Carolina coast later Thursday.
By Saturday morning it is expected to be hovering around the New England area as a far-weaker storm before dissipating in the North Atlantic.
