Martin County Issues Evacuation Order For Barrier Islands Ahead Of Hurricane Dorian

MIAMI (CBSMiami) - As Hurricane Dorian looms near the Bahamas, Martin County has called for a mandatory evacuation of the barrier islands and low lying areas.

The evacuation order will go into effect Sunday at 10 a.m. The county plans to open shelters at that time.

Meanwhile, people are preparing their homes and businesses as shutters go up.

Something that concerns emergency managers is the rain that comes with a slow-moving storm.

Lake Okeechobee is already two feet higher than a month ago because of a very wet August. At this point there is no plant to lower the lake level, instead, the plan is to lower the canals. There are two thousand miles of them from Orlando to Miami-Dade.

The South Florida Water Management District oversees many of those canals.

"What we need to do is prepare for the ten-inch plus amount of rain that could come with Dorian. So, they will lower the canals so when it rains, it can absorb all that water," Executive Director Drew Bartlett said.

Florida Power and Light is warning customer to brace for extensive power outages. They have an army of 16-thousand workers from 34 states and Canada ready to fan out after the storm passes.