Dorian was upgraded to a Category 4 hurricane on Friday by the NHC and is expected to be upgraded to Category 5 by the time of its landfall on the coast of Florida reportedly estimated for Sunday.
US President Donald Trump told reporters on the White House lawn before flying to Camp David for the weekend that he would be flying back to DC on Sunday morning and would then meet with top officials of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) at their headquarters to decide what steps should be taken in dealing with the storm and its aftereffects.
"We’re thinking about [a] Florida evacuation but it’s a little bit too soon [to decide]," Trump said Friday. "We’ll probably have to make that determination on Sunday [...] "We are allowing the states to make that decision. A lot of states are making that decision", he said.
The NHC bulletin warned of 6-to-12 inches of rain in parts of Florida as Dorian passes over the state. "This rainfall may cause life-threatening flash floods", NHC said.
In addition, NHC warned of a life threatening storm surge, first in the Bahamas and later in Florida, with water levels as much as 10 to 15 feet above normal tide levels.
From Florida to South and North Carolina, state and local authorities are reportedly preparing for the hurricane’s landfall, subsequent flooding and possible widespread power outages.
Trump called off his planned trip to Poland over the weekend - instead detailing Vice President Mike Pence to attend - because of approaching Hurricane Dorian.