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As Hurricane Florence heads southeast in the form of a Category 4 storm, the Governor of South Carolina ordered evacuations along the entire coastline, which could affect up to a million people. people.
"We know that this evacuation order is going to be embarrassing for some people," Governor Henry McMaster, RS, said at a press conference Monday afternoon, "but we do not want to risk life. from a South Carolinian. "
Schools will be closed from Tuesday in affected counties and state authorities will reverse lanes on four main roads leading to the coast to help with evacuation.
"We are not going to play with the lives of the people of South Carolina," McMaster said.
North Carolina and South Carolina are expected to suffer the shock of Florence, which the National Hurricane Center declared Monday to have passed a storm category 3. One hour later, at noon, the agency tweeted that Florence had grown to become a category 4, with maximum sustained winds of nearly 130 km / h.
In North Carolina, evacuations were already underway: Dare County authorities proceeded on Monday with a mandatory evacuation to Hatteras Island from the outer benches and ordered other evacuations to d & # 39; other areas of the county from Tuesday morning.
Although the storm may weaken some before landing, forecasters expect it to remain a category 3 or 4.
Governor Roy Cooper, D-N.C., Warned residents to take the threat of the storm seriously.
"The forecasts place North Carolina in the center of Hurricane Florence and the storm is growing rapidly," he said. "When forecasters tell us" life in danger ", we know it's serious."
North Carolina faces three dangers in Florence, said Cooper: coastal ocean waves, high winds and floods.
"All parts of the state could be affected by the storm," Cooper said at a press conference Monday morning, warning that power outages could last "a while."
Florence is currently 575 miles south-southeast of Bermuda and about 1,230 miles east-southeast of Cape Fear, North Carolina, and is moving west at 13 mph .
Cooper, who declared the state of emergency for North Carolina this weekend, has already activated 200 National Guard soldiers and asked President Donald Trump to make a disaster declaration before the storm.
The governors of South Carolina and Virginia also declared the state of emergency in advance.
Sunday, the National Emergency Management Agency of South Carolina tweeted it was "preparing for the eventuality of a large-scale disaster".
The hurricane is expected to approach the coast of South Carolina or North Carolina on Thursday, according to the National Hurricane Center.
But those on his way did not waste time. Shelves in some grocery stores in Raleigh, NC, were already empty and residents were filling their gas tanks, NRC's WRAL subsidiary in Raleigh reported.
"Just in case I have to make a quick escape, I have a full tank of gas and I'm ready," said Tony Johnson, resident of Raleigh at WRAL.
In Lexington County, South Carolina, officials have asked pond owners with dams to reduce their water levels before they arrive to avoid overflowing dams.
According to NBC 12, in Richmond, Virginia, Virginia, Dominion Energy's utility crews were securing the power lines upstream of the cyclone, in anticipation of falling trees.
President Trump said the federal government "was watching closely and was ready to help" those on the way to Florence.
"Storms in the Atlantic are very dangerous and we encourage anyone on the road to these storms to prepare for and take into account warnings from state officials and local authorities," he said. he tweeted.
A Trump campaign rally scheduled for Friday in Jackson, Miss., Was canceled due to the storm.
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