STEM THE FLO!

States gear up for ‘catastrophic’ cane

As Hurricane Florence barreled toward the East Coast, triggering emergency preparations in three states, experts said on Sunday that New York would likely dodge the storm’s wrath but should still keep an eye on the forecast.

“It will be a very strong system,” said AccuWeather meteorologist Brett Rossio. “Right now, we’re anticipating a landfall probably in the Carolinas.”

After briefly being downgraded to a tropical storm on Saturday, Florence came roaring back to life — and to a Category 1 hurricane classification — on Sunday as it roared toward the Eastern Seaboard.

“We think it’s going to be a major hurricane — a Category 3 — when it makes landfall,” Rossio said. “I could see it being a Category 5 at some point.

“It could be catastrophic,” he warned. “We’re looking at sustained wind speeds well over 100 miles per hour.”

Landfall along the Carolina coast was projected for early Friday, with New York’s shorelines seeing the arrival of fierce rip currents and surging waves at around the same time, Rossio said.

States of emergency already had been declared by the governors of North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia by Sunday afternoon, as coastal residents there were urged to make emergency preparations and to be ready to evacuate at a mo- ment’s notice.

“Pretend, assume, presume that a major hurricane is going to hit right smack dab in the middle of South Carolina and is going to go way inshore,” said that state’s governor, Henry McMaster.

The tri-state region’s luck hinges on a high-pressure ridge sitting near New York that could act as a buffer between Gotham and the rapidly strengthening storm.

“The $99 million question is going to be this ridge,” Rossio said. “Does it weaken, or does it strengthen?”

“This ridge is probably going to protect New York City,” he said, while stressing that the situation was still very fluid.