Hurricane Dorian lashes the Virgin Islands leaving torrents of water

Hurricane Dorian has the potential to be one of the worst storms to hit Florida in three decades, meteorologists warn.



The storm continued his ominous path on Thursday churning in the open Atlantic, headed towards the northern Bahamas and Florida's eastern coast, as it's expected to escalate into a dangerous Category 3 storm by the time it makes landfall early next week.



On Wednesday Dorian was upgraded from a tropical storm to a hurricane and briefly made landfall in the Virgin Islands and impacted small Puerto Rican islands, causing power outages and minor flooding.



Once Dorian escalated into a hurricane, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency.



Officials have warned residents across the state to prepare for a Labor Day weekend strike and to stock up on a week's worth of supplies and to be prepared to evacuate when advised.



An update from the National Hurricane Center at 8am EST on Thursday warned that tropical force winds from Dorian, which is currently a Category 1 storm, could start to hit parts of Florida as early as Saturday evening and the hurricane could make landfall by late Sunday or early Monday.



'This could be the strongest hurricane to hit Central Florida in over 30 years,' Fox 35 Orlando meteorologist Glenn Richards said. 'Hurricane force sustained winds would be carried across the entire width of the state if the current forecast holds.'