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As Florence’s outer bands began lashing coastal North Carolina on Thursday, officials and forecasters begged residents in the massive storm’s path to treat the hurricane seriously — and not be deceived by it being downgraded to a Category 2.
Here’s the latest on Hurricane Florence:
- The Category 2 storm could bring peak wind gusts at over 100 mph and substantial storm surges of up to 13 feet.
- The storm could make landfall early Friday in North Carolina. Its size is larger than North and South Carolina combined.
- The airport in Charleston, South Carolina, will be closed through at least Saturday, and nearly 1,000 flights in the region have been canceled through Friday.
“Do not pay attention to the category. That’s not the important thing,” said NBC News’ meteorologist Al Roker. “The storm surge — this is the most dangerous part of the storm.”
Florence, which as of 11 a.m. ET was about 145 miles east-southeast of Wilmington, North Carolina, with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph, was at one point a Category 4 storm before it weakened to a Category 3 Wednesday afternoon and then weakened again to a Category 2 as of 11 p.m. Wednesday.
It was moving northwest at 10 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.
The agency warned “life-threatening storm surge and rainfall” were expected — and officials urged anyone in areas under evacuation orders to get out as quickly as they could.
“Just because the wind speeds came down, the intensity came down to a Category 2, please do not let your guard down,” said Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Brock Long at a press conference Thursday morning. “The storm surge forecast with this storm has not changed.”
Landfall is expected early Friday in coastal North Carolina, but rain is forecast to last for the next several days.
“The forecasters are basically indicating feet of rain, not inches, in portions of the Carolinas and into Virginia,” Long said, warning that inland flooding could be deadly.
“The infrastructure is going to break,” he added. “The power is going to go out. It could go out for a number of days, it could go out for weeks. It’s very hard to say at this point.”
In total, more than 10 million people face dangerous or life-threatening conditions from Florence, officials said. And about 1.7 million people in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia have been told to evacuate.
The National Hurricane Center said Florence could bring life-threatening storm surge and rain to parts of the Carolinas and Mid-Atlantic states.
Two potentially catastrophic storm surges are forecast: one just before midnight Thursday and another midday Friday.
Hurricane and storm surge warnings were in effect for South Santee River, South Carolina, to Duck, North Carolina, and Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds. A hurricane watch was in effect for Edisto Beach, South Carolina, to South Santee River, South Carolina, and a storm surge watch was in effect for Edisto Beach, South Carolina, to South Santee River and north of Duck, North Carolina, to the North Carolina-Virginia border.
The biggest area of concern was Cape Fear to Cape Lookout, North Carolina, which could see storm surges of 9 to 13 feet.
According to the Red Cross, more than 1,600 people spent Tuesday night in 36 shelters across the Carolinas, and dozens of more shelters were opening Wednesday. South Carolina’s government said Wednesday that it had over 1,800 people in shelters in its state.
Some in the storm’s path wrestled with whether to leave. In Wilmington, a city of about 119,000 on North Carolina’s coast that is along the forecast track, staff at the 100-bed Trinity Grove skilled nursing facility chose not to evacuate their residents after deciding that the risk of moving would be greater than staying.
State and federal agencies said they were prepared for the worst. On Thursday, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said he had been in contact with President Donald Trump and said the president had offered “whatever we need” to get through the storm.
Gen. Gregory Lusk, the adjutant general of the North Carolina National Guard, said 6,400 guardsmen were on active duty between North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.
“We are in constant contact and coordination with each other,” Lusk said, “because in an event such as this, state boundaries don’t matter when American lives are at risk.”