Historic storm to hit US

HURRICANE Florence has intensified into a category 4 hurricane, prompting evacuations of more than a million people in the US.

With maximum sustained winds of 220km/h, Florence was due to grow stronger before making landfall tomorrow, the National Hurricane Centre in Miami said.

Authorities worried about its potential to unleash prolonged torrential rains and widespread flooding across several states, especially if it lingers inland for several days.

“Florence is expected to be an extremely dangerous major hurricane,” the NHC said.

Maps of its trajectory showed it was most likely to hit the North Carolina shore near the South Carolina border, making it the most powerful storm to strike the Carolinas in almost three decades.

Emergency declarations were issued by the governors in both states, as well as in Virginia and Maryland.

“We are in the bull’s-eye,” North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said yesterday.

South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster estimated about a million residents were under orders to evacuate the coast of his state.

North Carolina has ordered the evacuation of more than 50,000 people. Up to 380mm of rain has been forecast for the hardest-hit areas, NHC director Ken Graham said.

Emergency operations chief Jeffrey Stern said residents should brace for “something that no one in Virginia has experienced in their lifetimes”.

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan said his state was “preparing for the potential of historic, catastrophic and lifethreatening flooding”.

US President Donald Trump has cancelled a political rally planned for Friday in Jackson, Mississippi, over safety concerns related to Florence, his campaign said.

REUTERS