Hurricane Florence will bring “life-threatening, catastrophic flash flooding” to North and South Carolina, the US National Hurricane Centre has warned, as president Donald Trump vowed the federal government was “ready for the big one”.
The agency also predicted massive quantities of rain – more than a metre in some places – would fall as the storm slowed and stalled over coastal states and other inland areas, including in Georgia and Kentucky.
The hurricane’s threat has caused supplies of food, drink and petrol to run out in some parts of the US East Coast where more than 1.5 million people have been ordered to evacuate. Officials warned the storm would be “nothing like you’ve ever seen”.
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Hurricane Florence poses a deadly threat to a wide stretch of the US Eastern Seaboard, from southern Georgia into southern Virginia, capable of unleashing rain-fuelled catastrophic flooding of rivers and low-lying areas.
Although its peak winds diminished on Wednesday, forecasters said the storm's total energy grew as its inner core and outlying bands of wind expanded.
"The time to prepare is almost over," North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper told a news conference. "Disaster is at the doorstep and it's coming in."
The mayor of Myrtle Beach in South Carolina Brenda Bethune has issued a curfew from 10pm ET Wednesday to 6am Thursday as Hurricane Florence approaches.
A second curfew will also be issued from 7pm ET Thursday to 7am ET Friday, she said.
Nearly one million people are estimated to be in evacuation zones in North Carolina, according to Governor Roy Cooper.
State officials said between 4,000 and 5,000 evacuees are already using shelters throughout the state.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has activated its Emergency Operations Center (EOC) ahead of Hurricane Florence
The EOC will be open 24 hours day and seven days a week to respond to public health needs before, during and after Hurricane Florence.
President Trump spoke with Georgia Governor Nathan Deal today about storm preparations ahead of Hurricane Florence.
"The President spoke with Gov. Deal (GA) earlier this afternoon and let him know the federal government and the team at FEMA are here to help with anything they need. The President has received regular updates throughout the day and we continue to monitor the storm activity around the country."
He planned to stay before and was still leaning that way, but said he will be checking the weather keenly for the next 24 hours.
"I have until Thursday afternoon to leave, I think," Mr Pennington said. "In 12 or 18 hours, they may be saying different things all over again."
Mr Pennington said there are two big draws to staying: His wife can be available to help if needed at the local animal hospital where she works and he doesn't have to wait to return home inside the evacuation zone.
"It's terrible trying to get back," Mr Pennington said.
As evacuations continue, storm preparation further inland has left store shelves barren.
The Independent's latest report from Fayetteville, North Carolina:
Supplies run out in North Carolina as emergency officials warn Hurricane Florence delivering 'Mike Tyson punch'
Residents remain calm even as petrol and generators became scarce“There’s no water. There’s no juices. There’s no canned goods,” Kristin Harrington said as she shopped at a Walmart supermarket in Wilmington, North Carolina, ahead of the Category 3 storm’s impending arrival.
Long queues formed at service stations as thousands of motorists streamed inland to escape the storm.
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 Centre in Miami warned.
“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.”
“This storm is going to knock out power days into weeks. It’s going to destroy infrastructure. It’s going to destroy homes,” said Jeff Byard, an official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Mr Trump tweeted on Wednesday: “We got A Pluses for our recent hurricane work in Texas and Florida (and did an unappreciated great job in Puerto Rico, even though an inaccessible island with very poor electricity and a totally incompetent Mayor of San Juan). We are ready for the big one that is coming!
“Hurricane Florence is looking even bigger than anticipated. It will be arriving soon. FEMA, First Responders and Law Enforcement are supplied and ready. Be safe!”
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.
States of emergency have been declared in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Maryland.
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 tropical storm Olivia makes its way to the islands as predicted. Isaac has weakened in recent hours, the NHC said.
