Hurricane on track for Florida after strike in Caribbean

Hurricane Dorian posed an increasing menace to Florida as it pushed over open waters Thursday after leaving limited damage in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

The US National Hurricane Center said Dorian was expected to grow into a potentially devastating Category 3 hurricane before hitting the US mainland late Sunday or early Monday somewhere between the Florida Keys and southern Georgia.

Across much of Florida's east coast, residents began flocking to the grocery stores and gas stations, stocking up in anticipation of the storm.

There were lines at many gas stations in South Florida as people began filling gas cans and topping off their gas tanks.

Some residents using community Facebook groups gave updates on new shipments of water to restock the nearly empty shelves at local grocery stores.

Josefine Larrauri, a retired translator, went to a Publix supermarket in Miami only to find empty shelves in the water section and store employees were unsure of when new cases would arrive.

Larrauri fled to Orlando two years ago when Hurricane Irma was expected to hit South Florida as a Category 5 storm and ended up shifting west to land on the Lower Keys and then Marco Island.

This time, Larrauri said the uncertainty made her nervous.

"I feel helpless because the whole coast is threatened," she said.

"What's the use of going all the way to Georgia if it can land there?" Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for the state's eastern and central counties Wednesday and planned to visit the National Hurricane Center in Miami on Thursday morning.

County governments along the state's central east coast distributed sandbags and many residents rushed to warehouse retailers to load up on water, canned food and emergency supplies.

"Hurricane Dorian looks like it will be hitting Florida late Sunday night," President Donald Trump tweeted Thursday morning.

"Be prepared and please follow State and Federal instructions, it will be a very big Hurricane, perhaps one of the biggest!"