Live updates: Dorian to bring hurricane-force winds to NC coast 'no matter what'

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Things to know:

• Hurricane Dorian is a Category 2 hurricane, with sustained winds reaching 110 mph. The eye is moving toward the North Carolina coast at 8 mph.
• Tornadoes are possible from the coast to the Triangle. See the full list of severe weather alerts.
• Southern areas of North Carolina have seen as much as 5 inches of rain.

1:20 p.m. — All American Airlines flights out of Fayetteville Airport were canceled. Thrifty and Dollar car rental services were closed until Friday.

12:50 p.m. — Some rotation was seen in Wayne County, and tornadoes are possible throughout eastern parts of the state.

Between 3 and 5 inches of rain have fallen in the past six hours, mostly southern North Carolina.

The eye of Hurricane Dorian is 112 miles away from Wilmington and could make landfall on the N.C. coast.

“It’s going to need a good kick to move on out,” WRAL meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner said. “The cold front is trying. It’s trying to push, and we’re looking at that push starting to take place, but of course we’re still looking at very strong winds.

“No matter what happens, we’re going to see hurricane-force winds all along our coast,” she said.

12:40 p.m. — A Jeep SUV was surrounded by waves in Myrtle Beach as people watched and took pictures with the flooded vehicle.

12:30 p.m. — The Coast Guard has aircraft and two shallow-water rescue boat teams in North Carolina waiting for safe conditions to begin search-and-rescue operations.

The Coast Guard urged people to stay off the water as rescue efforts may be delayed during the height of Hurricane Dorian.

12:28 p.m. — A tornado warning is in effect for Bladen County until 1 p.m. and for Duplin and Lenoir counties until 1:15 p.m.

12:25 p.m — The National Hurricane Center has released revised information, and Dorian remains a Category 2 storm. The center of circulation is 30 miles away from Charleston, South Carolina.

12:09 p.m. — Hurricane Dorian has been upgraded again to a Category 3 storm as it makes its way toward North Carolina.

11:45 a.m. — The eye of Hurricane Dorian is 135 miles away from Wilmington and was very close to Charleston, South Carolina.

The eye could make landfall over Wilmington, but dangerous conditions are likely regardless.

“It may not make a lot of difference unless it were to come way inland, which doesn’t look likely,” WRAL meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner said.

A tornado warning was in effect for Pender and New Hanover counties.

Numerous waterspouts were seen along the North Carolina beaches, and tornadoes were reported on land, too.

“Some of these waterspouts, what they’re doing is they’re getting all the way on the land, and once it’s on land it’s a tornado,” WRAL meteorologist Aimee Wilmoth said.

11:32 a.m. — What was believed to be a water spout or tornado has left a wide swath of damage on Emerald Isle.

Reporter Sloane Heffernan and photojournalist Greg Clark found devastation in the town. There are piles of debris; one mobile home has been flipped on its side; a resident whose home was damaged during Hurricane Florence also suffered some damage this morning. The damage was done from a storm that spun up from the hurricane’s outer bands.

11 a.m. — Hurricane Dorian’s maximum sustained winds fell to 110 from 115 mph, the National Hurricane Center said in its 11 a.m. forecast, making the storm a Category 2.

Its eye was 140 miles away from Wilmington, where it could easily make landfall, WRAL meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner said.

Dorian was moving northeast at 8 mph.

10:40 a.m. — A family in Pender County shared video with WRAL News of an apparent tornado whipping trees and roofs Thursday morning.

The family has lived near Highway 17 for generations, and they immediately took cover when they saw the swirling gusts.

“They honestly had seconds to react to this,” WRAL’s Nia Harden said.

No one was injured.

The tornado appeared to zig-zag across people’s backyards without destroying houses.

10:31 a.m. — A curfew will go into effect at 8 p.m. Thursday until 12 p.m. Friday in all areas of Dare County except for Kitty Hawk. There will be no access into Dare County starting at 8 p.m. Thursday.

10:30 a.m. — A curfew in Carteret County will be in effect from dusk on Thursday to dawn on Friday.

10:28 a.m. — The Town of Emerald Isle posted on Facebook that a water spout or tornado touched down at Islander and Reed drives around 9 a.m.

10:25 a.m. — Wayne County curfew to be in effect from 9 p.m. Thursday until 6 a.m. Friday.

10:05 a.m. — Gov. Roy Cooper urged people in North Carolina to seek safety as Hurricane Dorian begins to impact North Carolina.

“Hurricane Dorian is ready to unleash its fury on our state,” he said at a news conference. “It is serious, and it can be deadly.”

“Get to safety and stay there,” he continued. “Don’t let your guard down.”

Cooper warned of tornadoes, flash floods and intense winds.

He asked people to see shelter and to stay off the roads to keep themselves and rescuers safe.

9:30 a.m. — At least two trees were uprooted and a building was damage when an apparent tornado moved through Pender County, WRAL’s Nia Harden reports.

A woman said she had to evacuate Topsail and was staying in a building in Pender County on Highway 17.

When she and her family members heard what sounded like a tornado, they huddled together in the middle of the building until it passed.

Insulation from the building was scattered on the ground afterward.

Earlier Thursday, the National Weather Service in Wilmington tweeted a video of the tornado.

8:50 a.m. — Bands of rain were moving into Fayetteville, Clinton and Johnston County as the eye of Hurricane Dorian was 45 miles off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina.

While the storm remains a Category 3 storm, it is expected to hit Wilmington as a Category 2.

One particular band of rain has produced numerous tornadoes as it has moved through the Wilmington area and northward, WRAL meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner said.

8 a.m. — Hurricane Dorian remains a Category 3 storm as it approaches the North Carolina coast at 8 mph, the National Hurricane Center said in its 8 a.m. forecast.

The eye of the storm was 170 miles away from Wilmington, but several areas of the state are under hurricane, tropical storm and tornado alerts.

Dorian’s maximum sustained winds were 115 mph. Hurricane-force winds extended 60 miles from the eye.

The eye is expected to move near or over the North Carolina coast Thursday night and into Friday.

Two shelters opened at 8 a.m. in Cumberland County, including the Smith Recreation Center in Fayetteville and South View High School in Hope Mills.

Several businesses in Fayetteville have prepared for the storm with sandbags, and several hotels in Fayetteville were at capacity.

7:32 a.m. — The effects of Hurricane Dorian was already felt in Wrightsville Beach as people reported power outages and flooding.

Many people had heeded warnings to evacuate before Dorian hit the coast.

One man left his home to head to Raleigh because he plans to attend a wedding in Pennsylvania over the weekend.

“It’s been like a ghost town here,” WRAL reporter Nia Harden said.

A Food Lion had many customers, but employees said the store would close around 11 a.m. or noon.

7:30 a.m. — The Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office posted multiple pictures of damage on its Facebook page, including debris on Dorothy Trail and Highway 17.

Ethan Clark, a meteorology intern at WRAL, shared a video of a water spout near the east end of Ocean Isle.

7:25 a.m. — A tornado warning was issued for Bladen County until 8:15 a.m.

A tornado watch was issued for Cumberland, Duplin, Edgecombe, Johnston, Lenoir, Nash, Sampson, Wayne and Wilson counties until 7:00 p.m.

At Emerald Isle, waves were crashing and sand was blowing Thursday morning.

“I am feeling a little nervous,” a man walking on the beach said. “I think a lot of people aren’t prepared.”

6:25 a.m. — Utility crews from across the country are staging in Raleigh so they can move in to start restoring power as soon as Hurricane Dorian leaves.

Hundreds of trucks were at Coastal Credit Union Music Park, ready to deploy to areas that lose power.

Duke Energy said 700,000 people could lose power as Hurricane Dorian moves up the North Carolina coast.

The utility company nearly doubled its fleet of linemen, adding 4,000 crew members from 23 states to handle issues from the storm.

Widespread outages are expected from the coast even to the Triangle.

6:20 a.m. — Conditions were calm in Dare County, with low surf and light winds, but “we shouldn’t be fooled by any of this,” WRAL reporter Adam Owens said.

Storm surge could be as high as 6 feet as the eye of Hurricane Dorian is expected to move near or over the North Carolina coast Thursday evening and into Friday.

Emergency officials say people need supplies to sustain themselves for 72 hours.

John Silver’s home has been standing since 1875, and it’s weathered many storms.

“We’ve always just pieced it back together,” Silver said. “Originally we would find driftwood on the beach and — my ancestors would, and then we would — piece it back together.”

The house has been moved back away from the sea as the years have gone on.

Silver said he thinks his house will fare well in Dorian, but emergency officials said people shouldn’t stick around to see.

Dare County was one of several states under a mandatory evacuation for both visitors and residents.

5:03 a.m. — At Pine Knoll Shores near Atlantic Beach, some locals decided to wait out the storm despite mandatory evacuation orders.

“I lost my house to Florence, so I have been homeless for a year, and now here we go again,” a local woman told WRAL News at the Tackle Box Tavern.

Winds were picking up at Pine Knoll Shores early Thursday morning, and the area could get up to a foot of rain.

5 a.m. — Dorian is a Category 3 hurricane with sustained winds reaching 115 mph, the National Hurricane Center said Thursday morning. The storm’s center is expected to move near or over the North Carolina coast Thursday evening and overnight into Friday.

A tornado warning was issued for southeastern Brunswick County until 5:15 a.m. as the hurricane’s eye was 200 miles away from Wilmington. It was moving north at 8 mph.

The National Hurricane Center’s 5 a.m. forecast showed Dorian moving up the South Carolina and North Carolina coasts and turning northeast sometime Thursday.

“It’s certainly continuing to look like the storm is going to ride right up the coast of North Carolina, and if it bobbles inland, it shouldn’t be very much,” WRAL meteorologist Gardner said.

“Even if the storm stays well offshore, this is still going to be a very big deal for the coast of North Carolina,” she added.

A hurricane warning is in effect for the entire North Carolina coast, with sustained winds at 55 to 85 mph and gusts up to 110 mph.

The southern North Carolina coast could see 4 to 7 feet of storm surge. The central coast could see 4 to 6 feet of storm surge, and 2 to 4 feet of storm surge is expected along the northern coast.

East of Goldsboro, 6 to 12 inches of rainfall is expected.

A tropical storm warning is in effect from Raleigh to Greenville, with 30-40 mph winds and gusts between 40 and 60 mph expected.

The Triangle could see 1 to 3 inches of rain, and Fayetteville could see 4 to 6 inches of rain. Goldsboro could see 4 to 8 inches of rain.