Florence intensifies, prompts evacuations
Now a Category 4 hurricane, storm continues on path toward East Coast
Evacuations were ordered Monday in North Carolina and Virginia and more were scheduled for Tuesday – including the entire coastline of South Carolina – as Hurricane Florence strengthened to a Category 4 storm and continued its slow but angry dance toward the East Coast.
The National Hurricane Center said Florence was expected to slam into the coast around North and South Carolina as a Category 3 or 4 hurricane on Thursday or Friday. The storm’s winds had increased to 130 mph on Monday.
The hurricane roared from a Category 1 (90 mph) to a Category 4 (130 mph) in just the past 13 hours, an extremely rapid intensification, said Colorado State University meteorologist Phil Klotzbach. “The last Atlantic hurricane to intensify as rapidly as far north as Florence’s current location was Hurricane Humberto in 2007,” he said.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said he had asked President Donald Trump for a federal disaster declaration.
“We here in North Carolina are bracing for a hard hit,” Cooper said Monday.
Trump tweeted Monday afternoon that the federal government was monitoring the storm and was ready to help.
Dare County officials ordered everyone to leave Hatteras Island on Monday. Residents and visitors in tourist spots such as Duck and Corolla faced a Tuesday deadline. “Everyone in Dare County is encouraged to evacuate as soon as possible regardless of the established time frames,” the county announced.
Dare County has a year-round population of more than 30,000, but the population balloons during tourist seasons.
In South Carolina, Gov. Henry McMaster ordered the entire coastline evacuated starting at noon Tuesday. The order applies to all eight counties along the coast: Jasper, Beaufort, Colleton, Charleston, Dorchester, Georgetown, Horry and Berkeley counties.
Concerns about the monster storm extended into Virginia, where Gov. Ralph Northam ordered the evacuation of about 245,000 residents of low-lying coastal areas. Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney declared a state of emergency Monday, even though the city was not expected to receive a direct hit.
The hurricane center’s description of a Category 4 hurricane begins with “cat- astrophic damage will occur.” The center warns that such storms will snap or uproot most trees and down power poles and that power can be out in some areas for weeks or months.
The center of Florence was forecast to sweep between Bermuda and the Bahamas on Tuesday and Wednesday before making its assault on the U.S. coast.
“Florence is ... expected to remain an extremely dangerous major hurricane through Thursday,” the hurricane center warned. A “major” hurricane is one with sustained winds of more than 110 mph. Any Category 3, 4 or 5 hurricane is classified as a major hurricane.
The hurricane center warned that the swells are likely to cause “life-threatening” surf and currents.
“Red, no-swimming flags are flying, and everyone must stay out of the water,” Dare County Emergency Management Director Drew Pearson said.
AccuWeather meteorologist Brett Rossi said the ground in North and South Carolina and Virginia is already saturated from recent rains. Rivers are high, and the storm will be moving slowly when it arrives, exacerbating the danger, Rossi told USA TODAY. “This is very scary rain event potentially setting up this week,” Rossi said. “Florence could dump a foot of rain in places that cannot handle it.”
Some portions of the Carolinas could see as much as 30 to 40 inches of rain from Florence, the National Weather Service said, which would lead to river flooding that “could last for days or weeks” after the storm.
The Navy said all ships in Virginia’s coastal Hampton Roads area were preparing to leave port for open seas.
Florence is one of three hurricanes spinning in the Atlantic Ocean, along with Helene and Isaac. Helene is forecast to slide out to sea, but Isaac is a very real threat in the Caribbean later this week, the hurricane center said.