Sen. Lindsey Graham said officials in his state of South Carolina are holding out hope that Hurricane Dorian will stay out in the ocean, but noted they already have ordered evacuations in eight coastal counties and changed traffic patterns to help residents leave the area.
"I talked to the governor yesterday," the South Carolina Republican told Fox News' "America's Newsroom." "We are reversing the flow of traffic, so some people can get off the coast back into the interior off the state, removing people off the coast and moving assets down."
Meanwhile, Graham said he hopes Dorian will make just a "glancing blow" on South Carolina.
"We will know in a couple of days," said Graham. "I hope it is not a direct hit. It's a major storm and hopefully, it will stay out in the ocean and not come on the shore."
According to The Weather Channel, officials in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia are keeping a close watch as the path of the massive storm remains uncertain.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster has ordered the evacuation of the state's entire coast, beginning at noon, affecting more than 800,000 people. He, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper have already issued their state of emergency declarations.
Graham on Monday said a direct hit will be "really bad," but even so, the state is ready, with both mandatory evacuations for coastal counties.
"Unfortunately, we are pretty prepared for these things because they come very often," he said.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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