Washington - U.S. President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency in Georgia and South Carolina in the face of Hurricane Dorian and its expected advance along the east coast of the country, the White House announced today.

The president's action authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to coordinate all disaster relief efforts 'that are intended to alleviate the difficulties and suffering caused by the emergency in the local population' , said a statement.

It also calls on FEMA to provide adequate assistance to save lives, and protect public property, health and safety, and to lessen or avoid the threat of a catastrophe.

In the case of Georgia, the statement covers Brantley, Bryan, Camden, Charlton, Chatham, Effingham, Glynn, Liberty, Long, McIntosh, Pierce and Wayne counties; while in South Carolina it comprises the 46 counties of the state and the indigenous Catawba nation.

Trump had previously declared the emergency in Florida, where initial forecasts indicated that Dorian could land.

Although the National Hurricane Center (NHC) now estimates that the meteor must turn north before reaching that territory, its close proximity to the coast will make the effects of hurricane conditions be felt and keeps parts of the state under different types of warnings and surveillance.

In its 11:00 AM local time report in Florida, the NHC reported that Dorian dropped from category five to four on the Saffir-Simpson scale, but still remains a powerful and destructive hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 250 kilometers per hour and higher gusts.

According to that public notice, the meteor was located 180 kilometers east of West Palm Beach, Florida, and moved westward very slowly, only two kilometers per hour.

The proximity of the cyclonic organization led to the closure of the ports of Miami, Everglades, Fort Pierce, Palm Beach and Port Canaveral in Florida, while 72 nursing homes and assisted living facilities along the coast were evacuated, in addition to some hospitals .

Also, from noon they will close the international airports of Fort Lauderdale, Orlando Melbourne and Palm Beach, while the FlightAware aviation tracking website indicates that more than a thousand national and international flights have been canceled, most of them due to the storm .