Hurricane Dorian Shifts North, Threatens the Carolinas

Hurricane Dorian picked up its stride and turned northward Tuesday, putting the Carolinas at greater risk from the storm, which had weakened to a Category 2.

Evacuation orders have affected about 7.5 million people in four states, including about 2.8 million credit union members, from North Carolina’s Outer Banks to Palm Beach, Fla.

On Tuesday, Florida lifted evacuation orders for Highlands, Indian River and Martin counties, while North Carolina ordered evacuations staged from Tuesday to Wednesday in four coastal counties.

The counties in the North Carolina evacuation zone have about 289,000 residents, according to 2018 Census estimates, and as many as 269,000 credit union members based on branch distribution. Credit union members might seem like a large percentage of the population, but the two largest credit unions in the area cater to the military, which has major bases in the area and whose personnel are not included in the Census’ Current Population Survey.

For example, one of the largest credit unions in the area is Marine Federal Credit Union of Jacksonville, N.C. ($735.3 million in assets, 84,507 members), which is based right beside the U.S. Navy Marine Corps Air Station at Cherry Point.

Navy Federal Credit Union of Vienna, Va. ($106 billion in assets, 8.6 million members) is also one of the biggest credit unions in the area, with 414,800 members statewide in North Carolina and 265,200 in South Carolina.

Both credit unions have branches near the Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island in Beaufort County, one of the eight coastal counties in the state under evacuation orders. On Tuesday, Marine recruits packed up their gear and boarded buses to move inland.

South Carolina’s eight coastal counties – all or parts of which are under evacuation orders – are home to 1.4 million people, 75 credit union branches and about 509,000 credit union members.

The North Carolina evacuation orders affect parts of Duplin County; Onslow County;  Currituck County, which includes portions of the Outer Banks; and Hyde County, which includes Ocracoke on the Outer Banks. The four counties had 22 credit union branches in March.

As of 3 p.m. Eastern Time Tuesday, the storm had been downgraded to a Category 2 Hurricane and was moving northwest at 5 mph. At its peak Monday, Dorian was a Category 5 sitting on the Bahamas and moving about 1 mph or less.

The National Hurricane Center had hurricane warnings active at 3 p.m. Tuesday along a 270-mile stretch of Florida from Jupiter Inlet (north of Palm Beach) north to Jacksonville. Another 80-mile strip of Hurricane warnings were in effect for South Carolina’s coast bracketing Charleston from Edisto Beach north to the South Santee River.