Hurricane Florence - live updates: 'Monster' storm to strengthen on path to east coast amid mass evacuations and 5.4m people facing storm warnings
Hurricane Florence, on track to become the first Category 4 storm to make a direct hit on North Carolina in six decades, is howling closer to shore on Tuesday, threatening to unleash deadly pounding surf, days of torrential rain and severe flooding.
Fierce winds and massive waves are expected to lash the coasts of North and South Carolina and Virginia even before Florence makes landfall, and its rains will take a heavy toll for miles inland, the National Hurricane Center in Miami warned.
More than 1 million residents have been ordered to evacuate from coastal areas of the three states, closing university campuses, schools and factories.
Packing maximum sustained winds of 140 miles per hour (225 km per hour) the storm is expected to grow stronger and larger over the next few days, the NHC said.
“This storm is a monster,” North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said. “Even if you've ridden out storms before, this one is different. Don't bet your life on riding out a monster.”
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The National Hurricane Centre has released an estimate saying that the earliest tropical storm force winds from Hurricane Florence may hit the Carolina coast would be Wednesday evening, but that it is more likely those conditions will arrive Thursday morning.
Dare County and Hatteras Island in North Carolina are already being given mandatory evacuation orders in anticipation of Hurricane Florence's landfall later this week.
Computer predictions show the storm strengthening into a category 4 storm — and nearly into a category 5 hurricane — before hitting the Carolina coast somewhere between northern South Carolina and the North Carolina outer banks.
Here's a map of the evacuation zones declared in Dare County and Hatteras Island in North Carolina:
It is still to early to predict what exactly might happen when Hurricane Florence hits into the US East Coast, but there are recent examples that might help understand what is in store for the Carolinas.
Computer simulations show that as much as two feet of water may be dropped on the areas from the Carolinas to Virginia — and that there is a chance that the storm could stall as it hits the coast like Hurricane Harvey did over Texas just last year.
If those conditions present themselves, that could have disastrous consequences. Those conditions have been seen recently, too, when Hurricane Matthew hit into the eastern seaboard in 2016 and flooded major portions of the Carolinas with deadly waters.
Some meteorologists are seeing signs that Hurricane Florence will be pushed into category 5 territory, based upon what they are seeing from overhead imaging.
Most predictions say the storm will crash into the US East Coast as a category 4 — though it may be bordering category 5. What happens then is uncertain, but heavy rains and fierce winds will likely bring flooding to areas in the Carolinas and up into Virginia.
President Donald Trump has cancelled plans to hold a rally in Mississippi on Friday because of Hurricane Florence.
"We received confirmation from the White House this morning that the Trump rally has been canceled due to the projected hurricane threat to the East Coast," Jennifer Dunagin, communications director for the Mississippi Republican Party, toldThe Clarion Ledger.
The Trump campaign also released a statement, indicating that avoiding a deadly hurricane was the "safest" thing to do given the circumstances.
Puerto Rico could be in for some storm impacts from Hurricane Isaac, which is expected to lose strength as it approaches the Caribbean but may still bring some heavy wind or rain into the area.
The US territory was hit hard by last year's hurricane season, leading to thousands of deaths from storm related incidents or illnesses. Much of the island lost power, and remained without power for months.
At least two airlines have issued change flight fee waivers in anticipation of Hurricane Florence's landfall.
American Airlines has announced the change flight fee waiver for 23 southeastern US cities, including Charleston, South Carolina; Charlotte, North Carolina; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Norfolk, Virginia; Raleigh/Dhurham, North Carolina; Richmond; Virginia and Savannah, Georgia. More details on that waiver can be found here.
Southwest Airlines has similarly warned of delays or cancellations, and is offering waivers to travelers going through these cities in South Carolina: Charleston, Charlotte, Raleigh/Durham, Richmond, Norfolk/Virginia Beach and Greenville-Spartanburg. Here is more information for Southwest Airlines customers.
Other airlines have not yet commented on whether they will provide fee waivers, although Delta has indicated it is monitoring the situation.
The governor of South Carolina, Henry McMaster, has ordered the evacuation of the entire, 187-mile coastline of his state start at noon on Thursday, state politicians who had spoken to the governor told the Charleston Post and Courier.
The evacuations are intended to make sure that residents and tourists do not stick around for the landfall of Hurricane Florence, which has been described as a deadly storm that could pose serious threats to life in the southeastern United States.
The planned evacuations also reportedly include areas of the state that are prone to flooding, as the storm is expected to dump heavy rains on the state when it arrives later this week.
The director of the National Hurricane Center, Ken Graham, says that Hurricane Florence is likely to slow down as it approaches the Carolinas — which could have devastating consequences for residents both at the shoreline and further inland.
“When you stall a system like this and it moves real slow, some of that rainfall can extend well away from the center,” Mr Graham said, according to the Associated Press. “It’s not just the coast.”
The storm could have lasting impacts on the area, he said, and warned that power could go out for a longtime. Residents need to be prepared, he said.
“Rain plus winds equals a lot of trees down and power outages that could be for an extended period of time,” Graham said.
If you're curious what it is like inside of Hurricane Florence, some National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration hurricane hunters have provided some video.
The American Red Cross has begun partnering with local counties to open emergency shelters that could save lives in areas expected to be hit by Hurricane Florence later this week.
The shelters are being opened all over, including in at least one county in South Carolina, Horry, where as many as 12,000 people will be able to seek refuge during the storm, according to local media.
Governor Larry Hogan has declared a state of emergency in Maryland, preparing resources to be used after Hurricane Florence makes landfall south of his mid-Atlantic state.
The declaration shows that officials up and down the eastern seaboard are taking the coming hurricane seriously, and comes as some experts have suggested that Florence could intensify into a category 5 storm before it smashes into the US between Virginia and the Carolinas later this week
Here's the latest from the National Hurricane Centre on Hurricane Isaac, which is located further into the Atlantic behind Florence. It is still unclear if it will hit any significant population centres, or come close.
Here's the latest from the National Hurricane Centre on Hurricane Helene, which is behind both Florence and Isaac in the Atlantic Ocean. The storm is much too far from the Americas to pose any danger at this point.
The latest advisory from the National Hurricane Centre on Hurricane Florence says that the storm is growing in strength and size. The 5pm advisory says that prolonged rain could lead to freshwater flooding in areas impacted by the storm in the southeastern US, and that storm surges could be deadly.
A hurricane watch will likely be set by Tuesday morning, according to the advisory.
To hasten evacuations from coastal South Carolina, officials reversed the flow of traffic on some highways so all major roads led away from shore. Miles of traffic slowed to a crawl along the main highway along North Carolina's Outer Banks barrier islands.
The last Category 4 hurricane directly hit North Carolina was Hazel in 1954, a devastating storm that killed 19 people and destroyed some 15,000 homes.
In addition to flooding the coast with wind-driven storm surges of seawater as high as 13 feet (4 m), Hurricane Florence could dump 15 to 25 inches (38 to 64 cm) of rain, with up to 35 inches (89 cm) in some spots, forecasters said.
“The Storms in the Atlantic are very dangerous,” Donald Trump tweeted “We encourage anyone in the path of these storms to prepare themselves and to heed the warnings of State and Local officials. The Federal Government is closely monitoring and ready to assist. We are with you!”
State governors said they would open shelters for displaced residents.
Behind Florence in the Atlantic are at least two other storm systems, Hurricane Isaac and Hurricane Helene. In the Pacific, the state of Hawaii is expecting to be hit by its second hurricane of the season if Hurricane Olivia makes its way to the islands as predicted. Isaac has weakened in recent hours, the NHC said.
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