MINUTE-BY-MINUTE: 'Hundreds' trapped on Outer Banks after Dorian makes landfall

Local Dorian impact and outlook:

• Category 1 Hurricane Dorian made landfall over Cape Hatteras, North Carolina just 8:30 a.m. 
• The storm has picked up speed and is moving at 21 mph 
• Anson County Schools will be on a two-hour delay Friday 
• Conditions closer to Charlotte will remain quiet and warm on Friday as the sunshine returns and winds relax
• High temps will jump back into the lower 90s and will stay there through the weekend

[CLICK HERE FOR REAL-TIME UPDATES ON DORIAN]

[WATCH LIVE: Cameras along the coast as Dorian approaches]

>> Scroll below for minute-by-minute updates on the storm.

3:15 p.m.

Bahamian Prime Minister Hubert Minnis spoke to a crowd gathered at the port in Great Abaco, using the help of a Creole interpreter for a group of Haitians awaiting evacuation after Hurricane Dorian .

He told the Haitians, whose community has suffered intentionally set fires in recent years, they'll be treated with respect and there will be no discrimination.

Minnis urged families with children to keep their children in school when they reach Nassau, adding that the government will keep providing food and health care.

Minnis said he was satisfied with the speed of the government's response, noting that the U.S. Coast Guard was helping. But he also said officials still need medical equipment and supplies and heavy equipment to go through rubble.

He pledged that search and rescue teams are making every effort to find bodies in Abaco. Officials say 30 people have been confirmed dead in the Bahamas, but the toll is sure to rise.

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2:30 p.m.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio says the Bahamas immediately needs the U.S. Department of Defense's resources to deliver aid in the Abaco islands, saying distribution is impossible in the region that was devastated by Hurricane Dorian.

Rubio said via Twitter on Friday that defense resources need to be approved "to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe."

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the two U.S. senators from the state traveled to the Bahamas on Friday to see the damage.

Rubio also said the main hospital in Freeport, Bahamas, needs supplies and that fuel tanks in Grand Bahama flooded causing oil to spill over the top.

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2:10 p.m.

New hurricane warnings and watches have been issued for eastern Canada as Hurricane Dorian crawls up the East Coast.

Tropical Storm warnings have also been issued for parts of Maine, Massachusetts and Delaware.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center says hurricane conditions are expected in eastern Nova Scotia on Saturday.

The storm is moving away from North Carolina's coast after making landfall Friday morning on the Outer Banks. Dorian's center is about 125 miles northeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and is moving northeast near 21 mph. The hurricane center says Dorian is expected to increase its forward speed through Saturday night.

Earlier this week, the storm slammed the Bahamas, killing at least 30 people and obliterating countless homes.

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1:35 p.m.

Early in-person voting for a closely watched North Carolina congressional race has been extended in counties that shuttered voting sites due to Hurricane Dorian .

The State Board of Elections says voting in Cumberland, Scotland, Robeson and Bladen counties has resumed Friday for the 9th Congressional District special election and will continue there through Saturday. Early voting in other 9th District counties further inland that didn't halt balloting will end Friday as scheduled.

State law gives the board's executive director emergency powers during a disaster. Democrat Dan McCready, Republican Dan Bishop and two other candidates are running in the 9th District.

More early-vote extensions are being considered for the coastal 3rd District special election, where all counties closed sites early due to Dorian.

Election day is Tuesday for both races.

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12:20 p.m.

All evacuation orders in South Carolina have been lifted as waters from Hurricane Dorian recede and the storm continues up the Atlantic coast.

Gov. Henry McMaster ordered the remaining evacuation orders lifted in areas of Charleston, Berkeley, Dorchester, Georgetown, and Horry counties. Orders in Beaufort, Jasper and Colleton counties were lifted on Thursday.

Now they can come back after Dorian gave the state what turned out to be only a glancing blow.

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11:40 a.m.

South Carolina's governor is flying around the state to survey any damage from Hurricane Dorian.

Gov. Henry McMaster's office says the governor is visiting emergency operations centers in Horry, Georgetown and Charleston counties Friday. Late Friday afternoon, the governor planned to talk to reporters after meeting with officials during his final stop in North Charleston.

On Friday morning, residents and crews fanned out around downtown Charleston, scooping up the branches and leaves that littered the centuries-old streets.

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11:10 a.m.

North Carolina emergency officials remain worried about storm surge and flash flooding from Hurricane Dorian as it churns up the Atlantic coast. But preliminary damage reports from where the hurricane has departed are better than feared.

Gov. Roy Cooper said there's "significant concern about hundreds of people trapped" on Ocracoke Island, located south of Cape Hatteras and accessible only by boat or plane. He says waters are rising there and rescue crews are ready to go when the storm clears.

Cooper says reports of the storm's aftermath south toward Wilmington are better than anticipated, but warned Dorian is still raging at the Outer Banks and in northern counties.

More than 4,500 people spent the night in nearly 80 shelters statewide.

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10:30 a.m.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper says hundreds are stranded on Ocracoke Island as Hurricane Dorian moves up the U.S. East Coast.

Cooper told reporters Friday morning that rescue teams are ready as soon as they can move in. He says local authorities are telling people to get to the highest point in their home.

"At this point, we're preparing aircraft and swift water rescue teams nearby so they can be prepared to go in once it is safe," said Emergency Management Director Mike Sprayberry. "We can use helicopters to bring supplies to the island and people back if needed."

Cooper said the state was seeing 215,000 power outages and that 75 roads were impassable.

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10:30 a.m.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster has lifted evacuation orders for residents in all evacuated counties, effective immediately. Those counties include: Charleston, Berkeley, Dorchester, Georgetown, and Horry.

The governor lifted the evacuation orders for Beaufort, Jasper, and Colleton counties yesterday.

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10 a.m.

Ocracoke Island resident Leslie Lanier says some people on the thin strip of land on North Carolina's coast have had to climb into their attics because of high water from Hurricane Dorian.

Lanier said via text message Friday morning that some first floors have been flooded. But she added that the water level has started to drop. Lanier owns a bookstore on the Outer Banks island. She said she's OK but "nervous and worried."

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9:35 a.m.

Ocracoke Island resident Leslie Lanier says the island in the Outer Banks is "flooding like crazy" as Hurricane Dorian rakes the Carolinas.

Lanier said by text message Friday morning that the water is in homes on the island and she expects the water to keep rising.

She said she's safe for the time being, but added that she has been on Ocracoke for 32 years and not seen anything like this.

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9 a.m. 

Hurricane Dorian has come ashore at Cape Hatteras on North Carolina's Outer Banks, marking its first U.S. landfall since it slammed into the Bahamas days ago.

The eyewall made landfall around 8:30 a.m. with winds of 90 mph.

Dorian sideswiped most of the Southeast seaboard from Florida to the Carolinas in recent days before its eye made landfall Friday morning.

At 9 a.m., the storm's center was moving northeast at 14 mph.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center says Dorian is expected to accelerate as it moves off extreme southeastern New England sometime Friday night and early Saturday before a weekend approach to Nova Scotia in Canada.

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8:05 a.m.

Hurricane Dorian's center is near Cape Hatteras as it continues its crawl up the East Coast.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center says the storm is centered about 10 miles west-southwest of Cape Hatteras and is moving northeast near 14 mph.

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6:45 a.m.

Hurricane Dorian continues to scrape the North Carolina coast just offshore, with the worst weather hitting the Outer Banks. The storm's strong winds and heavy rains early Friday knocked out power to about 194,000 homes and businesses in North Carolina.

PowerOutage.US reports 160,000 outages remain in South Carolina after Dorian scraped that state's coast Thursday.

Authorities haven't reported any major damage, but were waiting for daylight to make a more comprehensive assessment.

The center of the storm has remained off the North Carolina coast. A weather station on Cape Lookout recorded winds of 75 mph as the eye of Dorian passes less than 10 miles away.

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6:30 a.m.

Channel 9 Meteorologist John Ahrens is in Atlantic Beach as Hurricane Dorian rolls across the coast. He is reporting strong winds and deteriorating conditions.

The eyewall of Dorian is slamming the Cape Hatteras area.

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6 a.m.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation is reporting 73 roads are closed because of Dorian.

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5 a.m.

The eye of Hurricane Dorian is passing just east of Cape Lookout as the Category 1 storm skirts North Carolina's coast.

Sustained, hurricane-force winds are battering the southern Outer Banks. The center of the storm is around 25 miles east of Cape Lookout and 55 miles southwest of Cape Hatteras, further north in the Outer Banks.

As of 5 a.m., the National Hurricane Center replaced a hurricane warning with a tropical storm warning from South Santee River to Little River Inlet in South Carolina. The storm-surge warning south of Surf City, North Carolina, has been discontinued.

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4:15 a.m.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami is reporting hurricane-force wind gusts along the southern Outer Banks of North Carolina.

A weather station at Cape Lookout on the southern end of the chain of low-lying islands recently reported a 10-minute average wind of 63 mph, equivalent to a 1-minute sustained wind speed of 69 mph. A wind gust of 75 mph was also reported, but the weather station inside the western part of Dorian's eye hasn't reported data since 3 a.m.

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3:10 a.m.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami is reporting hurricane-force winds "just offshore" Cape Lookout, part of the low-lying islands that make up North Carolina's Outer Banks.

The Category 1 storm is located around 25 miles south-southwest of Cape Lookout, and around 90 miles southwest of Cape Hatteras, further north on the string of barrier islands and spits.

Top sustained winds remain at 90 mph and the storm is moving northeast at 14 mph.

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2 a.m.

Hurricane Dorian has weakened somewhat to a Category 1 storm, but forecasters say the threat posed to the southeastern U.S. coast hasn't abated.

Dorian is currently 55 miles east of Wilmington, and 30 miles south-southwest of Cape Lookout, and moving northeast at 15 mph. The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami says that general motion is expected to continue, with an increase in speed through Saturday.

The center of the storm will move near or over the coast of North Carolina over the next several hours, before moving to the "southeast of extreme southeastern New England" on Friday night and Saturday morning and then across Nova Scotia.

A storm surge warning has been discontinued south of Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, but flooding remains possible in parts of North Carolina depending on the tide and the storm's distance from the coast.

Hurricane Dorian weakens to Category 1 storm as it batters Carolina shoreline

After triggering tornadoes in South Carolina, Hurricane Dorian was closing in for a possible direct hit Friday morning on North Carolina's Outer Banks, a string of low-lying islands, even as it weakened to a Category 1 storm.

[CLICK HERE to get caught up on Thursday's Dorian coverage]

On Ocracoke Island, near the southern end of the 200-mile-long string of barrier islands and spits, about 500 of the 1,000 residents have stuck around to face the storm, said Ann Warner, the owner of Howard's Pub on the island.

>> Download the WSOCTV news app for your smartphone and get updates on Dorian as they come in.

"The boats are tied down. Yards are cleaned up. Businesses are closed. People are hunkered down," Warner said by phone.

The ferries stopped service on Wednesday, she noted.

"It's too late to leave," Warner said. "If you want to change your mind, it's too late. We're on our own."

Further north, Virginia was also in harm's way, and a round of evacuations was ordered there.

The hurricane hammered the Bahamas with 185 mph winds, killing at least 30 people, but swept past Florida at a relatively safe distance, grazed Georgia, and then hugged the South Carolina-North Carolina coastline.

>> Remember, you can watch our radar and LIVE continuous Dorian coverage anytime at home on Roku, Amazon Fire and Apple TV.

At least four deaths in the Southeast have been blamed on the storm.

Twisters spun off by Dorian peeled away roofs and flipped trailers in South Carolina, and more than 250,000 homes and businesses were left without power. Dorian's winds weakened after sunset Thursday to 100 mph, before falling further early Friday to 90 mph, making it a Category 1 storm.

As of early Friday, Dorian was centered about 80 miles southwest of Cape Hatteras, and 15 miles south of Cape Lookout, North Carolina, in the southern Outer Banks, along which hurricane-force wind gusts were reported. The storm was moving northeast at 14 mph. It's expected to weaken slowly over the next few days, but will likely remain a hurricane as it moves along the coast of North Carolina.

More Hurricane Dorian content:

• SEVERE WEATHER RESOURCE GUIDE: make sure you're prepared
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• Hurricane Dorian: Links, tips and information as the storm approaches
• Evacuations ordered along NC/SC coast ahead of looming Dorian
• Hurricane Dorian: How to help those affected by Dorian
• Hurricane Dorian: Storm surges expected along coasts of Georgia and Carolinas
• Wrightsville Beach evacuees board up, get out ahead of Dorian
• Residents in Atlantic Beach prepare for Dorian, still struggling from Florence
• 'It's like a gamble': Chesterfield County gears up ahead of Dorian
• Hurricane Dorian: Images from Space Station show storm's frightening magnitude

In Wilmington, heavy rain fell horizontally, trees bent in the wind and traffic lights swayed as the hurricane drew near.

Overnight winds were expected to cause trees and branches to fall on power lines, and debris could block repair crews from accessing damaged lines, said Mike Burnette senior vice president of Electric Cooperatives, a utility provider in North Carolina. Customers should prepare for prolonged power outages, he said.

"We have a long night ahead of us. Everyone needs to stay in a safe place and off the roads until the storm passes," North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said.

>> Reading this story in our app? The new "Follow the Lead" feature allows you to tap the blue tag indicated with a '+' to subscribe to alerts on the very latest breaking news updates.

About 150 evacuees were camped out at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, speedway spokesman Scott Cooper said.

Leslie Lanier, 61, was one of those who decided to stay behind on Ocracoke Island. She boarded up her home and bookstore, making sure to move the volumes higher.

"I think we're in for a great big mess," she said

The National Hurricane Center forecast as much as 15 inches of rain for the coastal Carolinas, with flash-flooding likely.

On Thursday, Dorian swamped roads in historic downtown of Charleston, and knocked down some 150 trees and toppled power lines. Gusts had topped 80 mph in some areas. The port city of handsome antebellum homes sits on a peninsula that is prone to flooding even from ordinary storms.

Walking along Charleston's stone battery, college student Zachary Johnson sounded almost disappointed that Dorian hadn't done more.

"I mean, it'd be terrible if it did, don't get me wrong. I don't know - I'm just waiting for something crazy to happen, I guess," said Johnson, 24.

Dorian apparently spawned at least one tornado in North Myrtle Beach, damaging several homes, and another twister touched down in the beach town of Emerald Isle, mangling and overturning several trailer homes in a jumble of sheet metal. No immediate injuries were reported.

By midday Thursday, coastal residents in Georgia and some South Carolina counties were allowed to go home.

Still, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster warned of new dangers ahead.

"Don't be surprised if there was water in your home. You might have animals, snakes. You don't know what might be in there, so be very careful as you return," he said.

The four deaths attributed to the storm in the mainland U.S. took place in Florida and North Carolina. All of them involved men who died in falls or by electrocution while trimming trees, putting up storm shutters or otherwise getting ready for the hurricane.

Navy ships were ordered to ride out the storm at sea, and military aircraft were moved inland. More than 700 airline flights scheduled for Thursday and Friday were canceled. Hundreds of shelter animals were airlifted from coastal South Carolina to Delaware.

Aid effort picks up momentum as some Bahamians seek way out

A few meager possessions stuffed in plastic bags, some of the haggard Bahamians who lost homes to the ravages of Hurricane Dorian are waiting at a small airport hoping to catch planes out of the disaster zone as an international humanitarian effort to help the Caribbean country gains momentum and the death toll has risen to 30.

A few hundred people sat at the partly flooded Leonard M. Thompson airport on Abaco island Thursday as small planes picked up the most vulnerable survivors, including the sick and the elderly. The evacuation was slow and there was frustration for some who said they had nowhere to go after the Category 5 hurricane splintered whole neighborhoods.

"They told us that the babies, the pregnant people and the elderly people were supposed to be first preference," said Lukya Thompson, a 23-year-old bartender. But many were still waiting, she said.

Despite hardship and uncertainty, those at the airport were mostly calm. The Bahamian health ministry said helicopters and boats were on the way to help people in affected areas, though officials warned of delays because of severe flooding and limited access.

At least 30 people died in the hurricane and the number could be "significantly higher," Bahamian health minister Duane Sands told The Associated Press in a telephone interview late Thursday. The victims are from Abaco and Grand Bahama islands and include some who died from injuries after being flown to New Providence island, he said.

The hurricane hit Abaco on Sunday and then hovered over Grand Bahama for a day and a half.

On Thursday, emergency officials fanned out across stricken areas to track down people who were missing or in distress. Crews began clearing streets and setting up aid distribution centers.

The United Nations announced the purchase of eight tons of ready-to-eat meals and said it will provide satellite communications equipment and airlift storage units, generators and prefab offices to set up logistics hubs. U.N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock said about 70,000 people "are in immediate need of life-saving assistance" on Grand Bahama and Abaco.

A British Royal Navy ship docked at Abaco and distributed supplies to hurricane survivors. On Grand Bahama, a Royal Caribbean cruise ship dropped off 10,000 meals, 10,000 bottles of water and more than 180 generators, as well as diapers and flashlights.

American Airlines said it flew a Boeing 737 from Miami to Nassau to drop off 14,000 pounds of relief supplies. The airline is also giving frequent-flyer points to customers who donate at least $25 to the Red Cross.

Troops from the Rhode Island National Guard will be heading to the Bahamas to help. The Guard will mobilize three C-130J cargo aircraft that will depart from the Quonset Air National Guard Base on Friday, state officials said.

Some dazed survivors of Hurricane Dorian made their way back to a shantytown where they used to live, hoping to gather up some of their soggy belongings.

The community was known as The Mudd - or "Da Mudd," as it's often pronounced - and it was built by thousands of Haitian migrants over decades. It was razed in a matter of hours by Dorian, which reduced it to piles of splintered plywood and two-by-fours 4 and 5 feet deep, spread over an area equal to several football fields.

A helicopter buzzed overhead as people picked through the debris, avoiding a body that lay tangled underneath a tree branch next to twisted sheets of corrugated metal, its hands stretched toward the sky. It was one of at least nine bodies that people said they had seen in the area.

"Ain't nobody come to get them," said Cardot Ked, a 43-year-old carpenter from Haiti who has lived 25 years in Abaco. "If we could get to the next island, that's the best thing we can do."

Ked was one of thousands of desperate people seeking help in Dorian's aftermath. With winds of 185 mph, the hurricane obliterated houses on the Bahamas' Abaco and Grand Bahama islands.

Crews in Grand Bahama worked to reopen the airport and used heavy equipment to pick up branches and palm fronds. Lines formed outside gas stations and grocery stores.

"People will be out of jobs for months," 67-year-old wood carver Gordon Higgs lamented. "They'll be homeless, no food. Nothing."

Total property losses, not including infrastructure and autos, could reach $7 billion, the firm Karen Clark & Co. estimated.

On Thursday, medical officials moved hundreds of people left homeless by the storm out of the main hospital in Abaco to shelters in schools and other government buildings. Some were angry at being asked to leave, or at not being allowed to freely enter to visit hurt relatives, and a shouting match erupted at the main door between a small group of hurricane victims and Bahamas marines.

Abaco and Grand Bahama islands are known for their marinas, golf courses and all-inclusive resorts and are home to many fishermen, laborers and hotel workers.

At the Leonard M. Thompson airport, Rashad Reckley, a 30-year-old saxophonist, played the Bob Marley song "Three Little Birds" for people who had lost their homes.

"I want to lift up everybody's spirits after all the tragedy that happened," said Reckley, who said he had exhausted his repertoire after playing for hours.

"They want me to play more," Reckley said. "But I can't think of songs to play."

Cox Media Group