Carolinas residents flee before Florence
S.C. evacuates entire coast as storm’s early effects felt on state’s barrier islands. Hurricane could stall inland, bringing torrential rains, mudslides to Appalachians.
RALEIGH, N.C. — Florence exploded into a potentially catastrophic Category 4 hurricane Monday as it closed in on North and South Carolina, carrying sustained winds up to 140 mph and water that could wreak havoc over a wide stretch of the eastern United States later this week.
The South Carolina governor ordered the state’s entire coastline to be evacuated starting at noon today and predicted that 1 million people would flee.
The storm’s first effects were already being seen on barrier islands as dangerous rip currents hit beaches and seawater flowed over a state highway. Communities along a stretch of coastline that is vulnerable to rising sea levels due to climate change prepared to evacuate.
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 con-
ditions.
The storm’s potential path also includes half a dozen nuclear power plants, pits holding coal ash and other industrial waste, and numerous eastern hog farms that store animal waste in massive open-air lagoons.
National Hurricane Center Director Ken Graham warned that Florence was forecast to linger over the Carolinas once it reaches shore. People living well inland should prepare to lose power and endure flooding and other hazards, he warned.
“It’s not just the coast,” Graham said. “When you stall a system like this and it moves real slow, some of that rainfall can extend well away from the center.”
A warm ocean is the fuel that powers hurricanes, and Florence will be moving over waters where temperatures are peaking near 85 degrees, hurricane specialist Eric Blake wrote. And with little wind shear to pull the storm apart, Florence’s hurricane wind field was expected to expand over the coming days, increasing its storm surge and inland wind threats.
By noon Monday, Florence was centered about 1,230 miles east-southeast of Cape Fear, N.C., and moving west at 13 mph. Its center will move between Bermuda and the Bahamas today and Wednesday and approach the coast of South Carolina or North Carolina on Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said.
Two other storms were spinning in the Atlantic. Hurricane Isaac was expected to lose strength as it reaches the Caribbean, and Helene, much farther out to sea, may veer northward into the open ocean as the 2018 hurricane season reaches its peak.
Preparations for Florence were intensifying up and down the densely populated coast. Since reliable record-keeping began more than 150 years ago, North Carolina has been hit by only one Category 4 hurricane: Hazel, with 130-mph winds, in 1954.
The parking lot has been full for three days at the Ace Hardware store in coastal Calabash, N.C., where manager Tom Roberts said he sold 150 gas cans in two hours Monday, along with generators, plywood, rope, manual can openers, sandbags and a plethora of other items.
“I’ve been doing this since 1983,” Roberts said as he completed an order for another 18-wheeler full of supplies. “This is the craziest one.”