Hurricane Dorian Hammers St John

Hurricane Dorian swept through the Caribbean on Wednesday, August 28, hammering the Virgin Islands, where it caused power outages and prompted an emergency curfew, local media reported.

Dorian was upgraded from a tropical storm to a Category 1 hurricane as it neared the islands, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. This footage shows winds and rain slamming Cruz Bay in St John, in the US Virgin Islands.

The storm forced the closure of schools, government buildings, and the Cyril E King Airport on the neighboring island of St Thomas on Wednesday, local media reported.

Airports reopened at 7 am Thursday, according to the St John Source, and the curfew on St John and St Thomas was lifted at 8 am.

All seaports remain closed and the territory was awaiting the US Coast Guard to make an assessment, local media reported. The St John Source cited US Virgin Islands Gov Albert Bryan as saying he expects they will open by noon on Thursday.

Satellite imagery from the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed the hurricane skirting the island of Puerto Rico and continuing on in the direction of Florida. Dorian was expected to be near or over Florida by Labor Day weekend as a powerful hurricane, the NHC said. Credit: Kelly Langston via Storyful