Some Butler County residents have a vested interest in what happens with Hurricane Dorian in and around Florida, as well as the Georgia and South Carolina coasts.

Dorian hovered over the Bahamas on Monday, pummeling the islands with sustained winds in excess of 150 mph and is headed toward the United States.

Some with vacation homes in the area but in Butler County on Monday are keeping their eyes glued to the Weather Channel.

Others are in the Sunshine State volunteering to help their neighbors to the south.

“It's riveting,” attorney Dick Goldinger of East Butler said Monday.

Goldinger, the former longtime public defender for Butler County, owns a condominium near West Palm Beach on Florida's Atlantic coast. He has had it for four or five years.

He has been a nonstop weather watcher, pretty much, for the last several days since Dorian became a household name.

He's also been in frequent contact with his neighbor, Chuck Greenawalt, a former Butler Countian turned Floridian.

So far, so good, as of early Monday afternoon.

“It looks like West Palm Beach and Palm Beach are not going to bear the brunt of it,” Goldinger said.

That wasn't always the case. Earlier, there was a mandatory evacuation for Palm Beach County residents closest to the Atlantic Ocean.

Goldinger's condo, which is 7 miles from the ocean, was not affected by that evacuation order.

He heads for his southern getaway about four times a year and was last there in May. Goldinger's next planned visit is Saturday, no matter what. But the pending forecast looks a lot better than recent days.

“It's supposed to be 91 (degrees),” he said, “and sunny.”

Forecast looking better

For Sue and Mike Colton, part-time Penn Township residents who split time in southern Florida at their winter home, they've gone from a worst-case scenario to a best-case one.

Just days ago, they heard the prediction that the entire state was in harm's way of Dorian. The forecast has gradually improved.

“It looks good now,” Sue said Monday. “I'm not worried unless it makes a sudden turn.”

The Coltons have owned their home in Port St. Lucie, which sits on the Atlantic coast, for a little more than 10 years.

They live in Florida from the end of October until the middle of May. The remainder of the year, they're up here.

“We have a friend who watches the house,” Sue said, “and other friends who keep us posted.”

Being a half-hour's drive from the ocean gives the Coltons a little more comfort.

“We're inland,” Sue said, “far enough away that we don't have to worry about storm surges.”

The couple had experience with troubling weather, but nothing too bad. They've also experienced storms that never lived up to the hype.

“We have hurricane windows, and all our furniture is in,” she said. “So there's not much to do but wait.”

On the front lines

Robert Gurkweitz of Cranberry Township, a volunteer with the Butler County chapter of the American Red Cross, is on the front lines in Florida.

“I'd like to think I'm a compassionate person and have empathy for others,” he said, “and I want to help.”

He is one of 13 volunteers deployed from the 50-county American Red Cross Greater Pennsylvania Region, and he's qualified as a food service and sheltering specialist.

He and his team arrived Friday in Tallahassee, where they received instructions.

Early Monday afternoon, he and several teams, numbering about 20 volunteers, headed east for Ocala, a three-hour trip.

“I think we'll be setting up a shelter and maintaining it,” he said, “but we won't know what we'll be doing until we arrive.”

Gurkweitz and the others were given a piece of information before heading out to Ocala. “We're told it's ground zero.”

He acknowledged, however, that could change, depending on the ever-changing path of the storm.

While not exactly sure what to expect, the 68-year-old Gurkweitz has a bit of an idea. Three years ago, he was a wet-behind-the-ears Red Cross volunteer deployed to Fort Myers, Fla., as part of a hurricane relief contingent.

He was there two weeks as a shelter associate.

“I was an emotional mess,” he said, recalling that stint. “I've never been in a situation like that before. It was unbelievable human suffering.”

So why go back?

“I have to,” he said.