Hurricane Dorian Update: Storm Makes Landfall In North Carolina, Downgraded To Category 1

Hurricane Dorian made landfall in North Carolina early Friday, lashing the Outer Banks with heavy rain and wind gusts topping 95 mph.

Some 200,000 homes have lost power because of the storm since Thursday and Dare County remained under curfew.

Access to the coastal communities was restricted thanks to flooding. In the Wilmington roads were expected to remain impassable for several days but the flooding was not expected to be as extensive as that brought by Florence in 2018. Major roads remained open.

Special care has also been shown to the local pet populations, with people refusing to leave without their critters. Nearly a third of the 65 evacuation centers were made pet friendly to ensure residents wouldn’t be separated from their furry companions.

The Santiago family took advantage of this. Members arrived at an evacuation center set up at a Durham mall with their dog, a guinea pig, and two kittens.

"I think it is important that we have places for pets and that these families can feel as much at home as possible," Gov. Roy Cooper told the Durham Herald Sun.

Virginia ordered evacuations to get residents out of Dorian’s path. The storm appears now to be headed for Canada. Hurricane warnings were issued for Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.

As of 5 p.m. EST, Dorian was moving northeast at 24 mph with sustained winds of 90 mph and gusts of 98 mph.

“Dorian should remain a powerful hurricane as it moves near or along the coast of North Carolina during the next several hours,” the National Hurricane Center wrote online.

This comes after a week of Dorian ravaging the Caribbean and U.S. east coast. The Bahamas faced the worst of the storm when the storm passed over the islands at category 5 strength. It ultimately took the lives of at least 30 people, though officials are still evaluating the total damage.

President Trump took to Twitter to thank emergency personnel.

The storm lost significant strength as it moved northeast along the coast.