Miami, September 1 (RHC)-- Hurrican Dorian has now reached a strength of Category 5, as residents in Florida and other U.S. East Coast states prepare for the worst.  

The slow-moving storm continues churning slowly across the Atlantic in the direction of Georgia and the Carolinas, with Florida also still in its sights.  On Florida's east coast, local residents and shop owners worked on putting up hurricane shutters and buying supplies ranging from water to power generators.

Southern Florida towns urged residents to remain alert despite National Hurricane Center maps indicating the storm might wobble up the coast instead of hitting land.  The Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) has warned that the storm remains highly unpredictable.

Concerns grew further up the coast as NHC models on Saturday showed there was a two-thirds chance the hurricane could hit land as far north as the North Carolina-Virginia state line.