Category 4 storm to strengthen; 1M is leaking

"This storm is a monster. It's huge and it's vicious, "said North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper on Tuesday. "The time to hope that hurricane Florence goes away is gone."

Starting at 5:00 pm ET on Tuesday, the National Hurricane Center issued hurricane warnings for portions of the south and north coasts of Carolina, as the 140 mph Category 4 storm approached from the shore.

The first rains could reach the Carolinas and Virginia on Wednesday, forecasters said. Hurricane force winds could reach the continent on Thursday night. North Carolina was the most likely target of landing, but emergency conditions were also reported in South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Washington, DC.

At 140 mph, Florence is now a category 4 storm over a possible category 5 over the Saffir-Simpson hurricane winds range. The hurricane center warned that the storm would strengthen and would be an "extremely dangerous major hurricane" until Thursday.

"This storm is not going to be a flash," said Tuesday the deputy administrator of FEMA for response and recovery, Jeff Byard. "This storm is going to be a direct hit."

A "major hurricane" is a hurricane with sustained winds of more than 110 mph. Any category 3, 4 or 5 hurricane is classified as a major hurricane.

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Florence is expected to produce total rain accumulations of 15 to 20 inches in some areas and possibly even 30 inches in isolated locations along the storm track, the hurricane center said.

The storm was about 785 miles east-southeast of Cape Fear, North Carolina, and was heading west-northwest at 17 mph. Florence was to cross the Southwest Atlantic between Bermuda and the Bahamas until Wednesday, before approaching the coast of North Carolina or South Carolina Thursday or Friday.

If Florence stalls, some areas could see record rainfall. A record flood could reach Georgia, Tennessee, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, the forecaster said.

"No matter whether it's a Category 3 or Category 4 storm, it will be a huge storm with major floods, a major storm surge," said Dan Kottlowski, principal forecaster of the AccuWeather cyclone. "Major hurricanes cause significant damage."

More: More than one million people fled Hurricane Florence heading for the east coast

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Hurricane warnings were issued from the South Santee River in South Carolina to Duck, North Carolina.

In North Carolina, officials from coastal counties of Dare and Hyde ordered a mandatory evacuation for all, tourists and residents. Exodus has slowed in some areas in the middle of heavy traffic and roads flooded by an early storm surge.

Donnie Shumate, Hyde County's information officer, warned residents to leave the Ocracoke barrier island as soon as possible.

"Ocracoke has seen nothing new like the amount of storm surges this storm could bring," she said. "And Ocracoke went through a lot of hurricanes."

The University of North Carolina and the state of North Carolina were among the closed schools before the storm.

"All students are strongly encouraged to leave the Chapel Hill area before the storm," said UNC on its website. "Whoever comes out of the storm path should do it by Wednesday night at the latest."

In South Carolina, Governor Henry McMaster canceled mandatory evacuation orders as computer models drove residents to North Carolina. Yet hundreds of thousands of locals and tourists were fleeing the coastal areas. In Myrtle Beach, Mayor Brenda Bethune urged residents to consider the call for evacuation.

"I realize it's a huge inconvenience," she said. "But I also ask you to take this storm seriously – no life is worth taking a risk."

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the government "will not spare any expense" in the event of a disaster. He urged residents of the Carolinas and Virginia to heed warnings from local authorities.

Trump told reporters that his government was ready.

"FEMA is ready, everyone is ready," said Trump. "We have everyone standing, we hope for the best, there is a chance that it is a very bad one, as you have probably heard … but we are absolutely totally prepared.

Trump has approved emergency declarations for South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia, authorizing FEMA to coordinate disaster response efforts in these states.

At a gas station in North Myrtle Beach, Sandra Dews said she was staying in her neighborhood because she was afraid of not being able to return after the storm. Dews is a survivor of Hurricane Matthew, who touched down in the state two years ago as a Category 1 storm.

"I'm out of Matthew," she said. "It will be a little worse."

Concerns about the monster storm have spread in Virginia. Governor Ralph Northam ordered a mandatory evacuation on Tuesday for 245,000 people in parts of the Hampton Roads and East Coast area.

Sunday and Monday at the end of the day, the hurricane burst from a category 1 (90 mph) to a category 4 (130 mph) in just 13 hours, an extremely rapid intensification, said meteorologist Phil Klotzbach. This is the intensification of the fastest hurricane since Hurricane Humberto in 2007, he said.

The description by the hurricane center of a category 4 hurricane begins with "catastrophic damage will occur". The center warns that such storms will break or uproot most trees and drop electrical poles. Power may be available in some areas for weeks or months.

In addition to Florence, Tropical Storm Isaac and Hurricane Helene are also spreading across the Atlantic Ocean. While Helen is expected to disappear at sea, Isaac is expected to enter the Caribbean on Friday.

Another tropical system is also strengthening in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico and could threaten Texas later in the week.

In the Pacific, tropical storm Olivia is expected to hit Wednesday in Hawaii, where tropical storm warnings are in effect.

Collaborators: Ledyard King and David Jackson, USA TODAY'S HUI; Nikie Mayo and Daniel Gross, THE NETWORK TODAY & # 39; HUI

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