In the storm’s path
Powerful Hurricane Florence is heading towards the US east coast, prompting authorities to order more than a million people to evacuate.
CHARLESTON (South Carolina): Powerful Hurricane Florence headed towards the US east coast, prompting authorities to order more than a million people to evacuate the path of the extremely dangerous storm forecasters said could soon intensify.
Residents scrambled to flee as the menacing Category 4 storm packing winds of 220kph moved closer.
“This is one of the worst storms to hit the East Coast in many years,” President Donald Trump warned on Twitter. “Please be prepared, be careful and be SAFE!”
South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster ordered as many as one million coastal residents to leave their homes ahead of the storm’s possible arrival tomorrow. Schools in 26 of the state’s 46 counties were closed from yesterday.
The governor of neighbouring North Carolina ordered an evacuation of the Outer Banks, barrier islands that are a popular tourist destination, and parts of coastal Dare County, while a state of emergency was declared in Virginia, where another 245,000 coastal residents were also ordered to evacuate.
“This is a very dangerous hurricane,” McMaster said, adding that the evacuation order for coastal counties was “mandatory, not voluntary”.
“We do not want to risk one South Carolina life in this hurri- cane,” the governor told reporters. “We’re liable to have a whole lot of flooding.”
Trump approved emergency declarations for both coastal states, a standard move allowing the release of federal funds and equipment to aid in protection and recovery efforts.
The president said he had spoken with governors of threatened states, adding that the “federal government stands by, ready to assist 24/7”.
Hurricane Florence has the potential to bring catastrophic flooding to areas of the eastern United States already soaked by heavy rain and it may be the strongest storm to hit the region in decades.
A Category 4 on the five-level Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale, Florence was 660km south of Bermuda and the centre of the hurricane was forecast to move between Bermuda and the Bahamas through today, and approach the coast of North Carolina or South Carolina tomorrow, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in its 5am advisory.
Forecasters expected some strengthening in the next 36 hours, as Florence marched west-northwest at around 21kph.