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MYRTLE BEACH, SC – Hurricane Florence's wind and rain bands began hitting North Carolina on Thursday as monster storms set in on the southeast coast, promising to absorb 10 millions of people water.
Sustained winds from Florence rose from 140 to 110 km / h, as their outdoor rain bands approached the North Carolina coast early Thursday. This has reduced the destructive power of Category 4 to Category 2 winds, but forecasters have warned that the increase in the storm and its probability of continuing day after day increases the risk of floods and torrential rains.
"For a winding storm, the biggest concern – as we've seen with Harvey – is the sheer amount of rain," said Chris Landsea, director of tropical forecasting and prediction analysis at National Hurricane Center.
Do not focus on the wind speed category #Hurricane #Florence! Life-threatening floods, catastrophic floods and prolonged floods are still expected. More: https://t.co/tW4KeGdBFb pic.twitter.com/eiD4c8pkRx
– National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) September 13, 2018
At 8:00 am EDT, it was centered about 170 miles east-southeast of Wilmington, North Carolina and about 220 miles east-southeast of Myrtle Beach, Carolina. from South. Hurricane force winds were blowing 80 miles from the center and winds of the tropical storm force reached 195 miles from the eye.
The best assumption of the hurricane center was that Florence's eye would blow on the ground as early as Friday afternoon around the North Carolina-South Carolina line. Then, it will probably float along the coast on Saturday, pushing up to 13 feet of storm surge and spilling 20 to 30 inches of rain on both states before committing to the Appalachians.
The result: catastrophic floods on land that could overwhelm homes, businesses, fields and industrial sites.
UPDATE: NOAA # GOES16 created this amazing "sandwich loop" – a combination of visible and infrared images – of #HerricanceFlorence this afternoon, September 12, 2018. For the last one: @NHC_Atlantic pic.twitter.com/6dIe2n9kmK
– NOAA PA satellites (@NOAASatellitePA) September 12, 2018
About 5.25 million people live in areas where hurricanes or hurricane warnings occur, and another 4.9 million live in areas covered by tropical storm warnings or watches, according to the National Weather Service. .
Jeff Masters, Underground's director of meteorology, said Florence could potentially end up in category 1 with winds of less than 100 km / h, but that's enough to cause at least $ 1 billion in damage. Water kills more people than winds in hurricanes, and rain and storm surges will make Florence extremely dangerous.
President Donald Trump extolled the government's will and urged people to break free. "Do not play with that, it's a big one," he told the White House.
It is unclear how many people have fled, but more than 1.7 million people in the Carolinas and Virginia have been warned to go out. Airlines canceled nearly 1,000 flights and counted. The Home Depot and Lowe Emergency Response Centers have put generators, garbage bags and bottled water in the stores before and after the storm. Both computer hardware chains reported sending about 1,100 trucks in total.
Duke Energy, the country 's second largest electricity company, said Florence could cut electricity to three quarters of its 4 million customers in the Carolinas, and that blackouts could last for weeks. Workers are brought from the Midwest and Florida to help in the wake of the storm.
Traveling to his home in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Chris Pennington looked at the forecast and tried to decide when to leave.
"In 12 or 18 hours, they could repeat things," he said.
Computer models of what the storm could do vary, adding to the uncertainty. Reacting to the possibility of a more southern route, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal declared an emergency but ordered no immediate evacuation.
"I call on all Georgians to join me in praying for the safety of our people and all those who are on the way to hurricane Florence," said Mr. Deal.
In Virginia, where about 245,000 residents were ordered to evacuate low-lying areas, the authorities urged them to stay in safer locations, despite predictable changes showing that the road to Florence was largely lacking. l & # 39; State.
With all their neighborhood evacuated to Wilmington, North Carolina, David and Janelle Garrigus have planned to go out of Florence to their daughter's bedroom apartment in Charlotte. Not knowing what they might find on their return home, the couple went shopping for a recreational vehicle.
"We are just trying to plan for the future here, not having a home for an extended period," said David Garrigus.
Wave height at 83 feet was measured early this morning under the northeastern quadrant of Hurricane Florence. These huge waves are produced by being trapped with very strong winds that move in the same direction as the movement of the storm. #HurricaneFlorence https://t.co/26J6Uogt6o pic.twitter.com/mdjGD5yibg
– NHC_TAFB (@NHC_TAFB) September 12, 2018
Melody Rawson evacuated her first-floor apartment in Myrtle Beach and arrived at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia, to camp for free with three other adults, her disabled son, two dogs and a pet bird.
"We hope to have something when we go home," she said. Three other southern trails have also opened campgrounds for evacuees.
Forecasters feared that the damage of the storm would worsen if it persists on the coast. The trend is "exceptionally bad," said Brian McNoldy, a hurricane scientist at the University of Miami, "because it degrades a coastline on hundreds of miles of coastline, including the storm surge."
The seaside towns of South Carolina are now booming due to changing forecasts, Ohio vacationers, Chris and Nicole Roland, have delayed their departure from North Myrtle Beach to get the most out of the sand . Most other beach goers were long gone.
"It was really nice," said Nicole Roland. "Also, a little scary, you have the impression that you should have already left."
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