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Hurricane Dorian Rakes South Carolina with High Winds, Rain - Targets Outer Banks

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Deadly Hurricane Dorian is churning up the coast alongside South Carolina with North Carolina on full alert.

In South Carolina, more than 250,000 homes and businesses were left without power as the hurricane pushed north along the coastline with strong winds resulting in sideways rain and multiple tornadoes. 

Dorian's winds weakened to 105 mph by evening. Gusts topped 80 mph in some areas.

Part of Charleston was flooded Thursday afternoon with kayakers in the streets. The storm toppled some 150 trees, swamped roads and brought down power lines, officials said.

Forecasters expect as much as 15 inches of rain for South and North Carolina along the coast.

Current weather tracks show the storm will pass near or over North Carolina's Outer Banks next. CBN News has a crew in route to the Outer Banks and will have the latest on the storm Friday on CBN's Newswatch and on CBN's The 700 Club. Check local listings.

"Don't let your guard down. This won't be a brush by, whether it comes ashore or not," said North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D). "The eye of the storm will be close enough to cause extensive damage."

Thursday afternoon, the storm was a Category 2, blowing at 110 mph (177 kph) — a far cry from the Category 5 that mauled the Bahamas, but still dangerous. About 1 million people in the two states were warned to evacuate.

At least four deaths in the Southeast were blamed on the storm.

"I think we're in for a great big mess," 61-year-old Leslie Lanier told The Associated Press. She decided to stay behind and boarded up her home and bookstore on Ocracoke Island on the Outer Banks, making sure to move the volumes 5 to 6 feet off the ground.

"We are thinking maybe we should have moved the books higher because of storm surge," Lanier said. "But we're kind of to the point where we can't do much more."

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About The Author

Steve Warren is a senior multimedia producer for CBN News. Warren has worked in the news departments of television stations and cable networks across the country. In addition, he also worked as a producer-director in television production and on-air promotion. A Civil War historian, he authored the book The Second Battle of Cabin Creek: Brilliant Victory. It was the companion book to the television documentary titled Last Raid at Cabin Creek currently streaming on Amazon Prime. He holds an M.A. in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma and a B.A. in Communication from the University of