Hurricane Ian made landfall for the last time in South Carolina on Friday afternoon.
Ian left a stretch of the Southwest Florida coast in ruins as a Category 4 and crossed the state as a tropical storm. It later gained strength and became a hurricane with its sights set on the Carolina coast.
Hurricane conditions and a “life-threatening storm surge” are forecast for the Carolina coast by Friday afternoon, according to the National Hurricane Center’s latest advisory.
Ian, now a Category 1 hurricane, will move farther inland and into central North Carolina Friday night and Saturday.
The National Hurricane Center’s 2 p.m. Eastern time Friday update puts Ian about 55 miles northeast of Charleston. The center of the storm will move farther inland across the Carolinas on Friday night and Saturday.
Maximum sustained winds are near 85 mph, with higher gusts. Ian is expected to rapidly weaken after landfall and become a post-tropical cyclone over night, according to the center’s 2 p.m. advisory.
Hurricane-force winds extend up to 70 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend up to 275 miles. The storm is traveling north at 15 mph.
Watches and warnings
—A hurricane warning spans the Savannah River to Cape Fear. The hurricane center warns of “flooding rains” likely across the Carolinas and southern Virginia.
—A storm surge warning is in effect from the Savannah River to Cape Fear in North Carolina, and for the St. Johns River in Florida.
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