Storm tide sensors to warn of Hurricane Dorian impacts

In the midst of King Tide season, Hurricane Dorian is poised to create Irma-style impacts potentially anywhere in Florida.

With that seeming inevitability in mind, awareness is key.

To that end, the U.S. Geological Survey is installing storm tide sensors up and down Florida and Georgia’s east coasts.

In Florida alone, 60 locations between Jacksonville and West Palm Beach are being targeted; that job will wrap on Friday.

Some will track storm surge. Others will track data from inland bodies of water, including the St. Johns River that flooded downtown Jacksonville and areas south two years ago.

Georgia will get 62 of those sensors, a response to potential barrier island flooding on its low-lying coastline.

Additionally, Flagler, Volusia, Brevard, St. Lucie and Palm Beach counties will get wave height sensors for their boardwalks, with expectations currently set for a landfall near Palm Beach.

However, with variability in the long-range forecast, nothing is a given. If need be, sensors will be installed on Florida’s West Coast also.

The National Hurricane Center says Hurricane Dorian is expected to become an extremely dangerous major hurricane soon with additional strengthening likely as it heads for the northwestern Bahamas and the Florida peninsula.

The latest advisory also says the hurricane’s forward motion is expected to slow, which means Dorian would more like make landfall early Tuesday morning. However, before it reaches land, Florida will be dealing with prolonged wind, storm surge, and rainfall, according to the hurricane center.

Florida can expect 6 to 12 inches of rain, with up to 18 inches in some cases, NHC said.