People ordered to evacuate as hurricane nears
MILLIONS of Americans are preparing for what could become one of the most catastrophic hurricanes to hit the Eastern Seaboard in decades, with mandatory evacuations already issued for parts of three East Coast states.
Hurricane Florence, carrying winds of up to 140 mph as a Category 4 storm, is expected to strengthen and possibly become a Category 5 storm.
It is then forecast to close in on North or South Carolina on Thursday, hitting a stretch of coastline that is vulnerable to rising sea levels due to climate change.
“Please be prepared, be careful and be SAFE!” President Donald Trump tweeted Monday evening.
South Carolina’s governor ordered the state’s entire coastline to be evacuated starting yesterday and predicted that one million people would flee. Virginia’s governor ordered a mandatory evacuation for some residents of low-lying coastal areas, while some coastal counties in North Carolina have done the same.
The storm’s first effects were already apparent on barrier islands as dangerous rip currents hit beaches and seawater flowed over the road.
For many people, the challenge could be finding a safe refuge.
If Florence slows to a crawl just off the coast, it could bring torrential rains to the Appalachian mountains and as far away as West Virginia, causing flash floods, mudslides and other dangerous conditions.
The storm’s potential path also includes half a dozen nuclear power plants, pits holding coal-ash and other industrial waste, and numerous pig farms that store animal waste in massive open-air lagoons.