‘Scooternado’: Electric scooters removed from Florida streets ahead of Hurricane Dorian
MIAMI - As Hurricane Dorian barrels toward Florida, cities all along the coastal state removed electronic scooters from the streets in anticipation of what one politician dubbed a possible “scooternado.”
The dockless scooters are heavy enough to become deadly objects and light enough to be thrown about by intense winds.
RELATED: Get a live look from Florida’s coastline as state braces for Hurricane Dorian
Ken Russell, a Miami city commissioner, tweeted that scooters were removed from the city’s streets on Friday as winds were expected to intensify Saturday.
According to the Washington Post, Lime pulled 1,500 scooters and 500 bikes in Orlando, Miami and Fort Lauderdale.
In Miami, Bird stored its scooters, while Lyft paused operations and placed 244 machines in a warehouse.
Uber’s scooter line, Jump, removed 250 of the electronic devices from Miami and 300 in Tampa.
RELATED: Dorian strengthens to major Category 3 hurricane as storm intensifies
Representatives from each company said they were paying attention to safety guidance for the incoming hurricane, according to the Washington Post.
Dorian powered toward Florida with increasing fury Friday, but there were indications that it might not directly strike Florida as previously predicted by forecasters. Still, the hurricane could smack the state with “extremely dangerous” 140 mph winds and torrential rains late Monday or early Tuesday.
RELATED: Here’s what we know so far about Hurricane Dorian
Late Friday, the National Hurricane Center’s projected new track showed Dorian striking near Fort Pierce, about 70 miles north of President Donald Trump’s resort property Mar-a-Lago, then running along the coastline as it moved north.
Forecasters cautioned that the storm’s track was still highly uncertain and even a small deviation could put Dorian offshore or well inland.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. This story was reported from Los Angeles.