(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The already powerful Hurricane Dorian continues to intensify as it moves west toward the Bahamas and the U.S. Southeast Coast.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said maximum sustained winds of the powerful Category 4 storm increased Saturday morning to 150 mph (240 kph) from 145 mph (230 kph).
As of about 11 a.m. EDT Saturday, Dorian was 260 miles (415 kilometers) east-northeast of the northwestern Bahamas and 415 miles (670 kilometers) east of West Palm Beach, Florida. The storm slowed slightly, traveling west at 8 mph (13 kph) from 12 mph.
The latest forecast said Dorian is expected to stay just off shore of Florida and skirt the coast of Georgia, with the possibility of landfall still a threat on Wednesday, and then continuing up to South Carolina early Thursday.
In the meantime, 500 ComEd employees have deployed to the Florida panhandle to help Florida Power & Light, the state's largest utility company, ahead of Dorian's arrival. Once they arrive there, the crews, who volunteered, will get a quick understanding of Florida's system, a ComEd spokesman said.