MIAMI _ With the U.S. Virgin Islands right in Dorian's path, one infamous place was feeling the worst of the hurricane on Wednesday: Jeffrey Epstein's "Pedophile Island."
Little Saint James Island, the hideaway where the wealthy hedge fund manager allegedly trafficked girls for sex and entertained politicians and businessmen, was on what's informally known as the "dirty side" of Dorian and could potentially face winds of up to 70 mph as the system passes the Virgin Islands.
The dirty side, or right side of a system when looking at it from above, typically packs the most powerful winds, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The dirty side of the storm is worse due to the direction of hurricane winds, which rotate counterclockwise. The strength of the storm on the dirty side is the hurricane's wind speed plus its forward velocity, according to NOAA. The absolute worst spot in a hurricane is on the dirty side closest to the eye of the storm.
Epstein's island was raided by FBI and police earlier this month as the investigation into the hedge fund manager's alleged sex trafficking of girls continued despite his death on Aug. 10. Epstein's case was reexamined after the Miami Herald published the series "Perversion of Justice."
Dorian continued to move northwestward after crossing the U.S. Virgin Islands near St. Croix, according to the National Hurricane Center. The newly formed hurricane was about 45 miles northwest of St. Thomas as of the Center's 5 p.m. update on Wednesday. The fourth named storm of the season is on track to pass over or near Puerto Rico's east coast and could develop into a Category 3 hurricane by the time it reaches Florida's coast Monday morning.
Dorian strengthened in the early hours on Wednesday to near hurricane level and was forecast to bring up to 6 inches of rain to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Isolated areas could see up to 10 inches of rain and life-threatening flash floods, surf and rip current conditions.
As forecasters predicted a likely Florida landfall, Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency Wednesday afternoon for 26 counties in Dorian's path, spanning the east coast from Duval to Monroe counties.
Nearly all of the intensity models show Dorian becoming a stronger hurricane in the next two days as it passes near or to the east of the Turks and Caicos islands and the Bahamas by Friday and Saturday.
