Hurricane Florence seen from space is a "nightmare without a joke"

Hurricane Florence is getting worse. As people on the ground prepare for floods, strong winds and breaking waves, the satellites and astronauts in orbit watch the storm from above and the views are striking.

NASA released a video Monday of the hurricane captured by cameras mounted outside the International Space Station.

The ISS was flying at a distance of 410 kilometers above the storm when it received images, which NASA describes as "dramatic".

The video travels the swirling clouds on the outskirts of the hurricane before passing over the eye. The video also includes still images of NASA astronaut Ricky Arnold, who has photographed the storm since the ISS.

The massive storm threatens the east coast of the United States with a scheduled landing on Friday morning. South Carolina and North Carolina evacuate people living in vulnerable areas along the coast.

NASA shared Wednesday morning a new vision of Florence. The high definition ISS camera gives the impression that the storm is eating a good part of the globe.

European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst took some pictures of himself to share on Twitter on Wednesday.

"Be careful, America! #HurricaneFlorence is so huge, we could only capture it with a wide-angle lens from the @Space_Station, 400km directly above the eyes. Get ready on the East Coast It's a joke-free nightmare coming for you, "writes Gerst.

The Goes-East weather monitoring satellite of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration used its lightning mapping technology for a video showing Florence, Tropical Storm Isaac and Hurricane Helene while they were crossing the Atlantic on Tuesday.

NASA also released on Tuesday an intriguing infrared look at its Aqua satellite, showing that Hurricane Florence was probably going through a process called "eye replacement".

The image shows a band of thunderstorms in red outside of the eye of the hurricane that will eventually suffocate and then replace the center of origin . "The intensity of the storm can fluctuate during this period, initially weakening when the inner lining of the eye dies before it becomes stronger again when the outer wall of the eyebrows." eye contracts, "says NASA.

Satellites and astronauts will continue to monitor Hurricane Florence from a safe space point of view.

First published Sept. 11 at 11:52 PT.
Update, September 12 at 9:17 am: Adds the tweet from ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst.

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