NASA captures incredible photos of the storm

As Hurricane Florence heads for the East Coast and the Americans watch her from their homes, NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station watch her from space.

German astronaut Alexander Gerst shared on his Twitter account pictures of what the powerful storm was like from his point of view in space.

"Ever seen the gaping eye of a category 4 hurricane?" Twitter. "It's scary, even from space."

German astronaut Alexander Gerst took pictures of Hurricane Florence from the International Space Station. ESA / NASA

The eye of Hurricane Florence is captured on a photo of the International Space Station. ESA / NASA

Hurricane Florence is expected to hit the coast Thursday night until Friday morning, hitting the Carolina coast particularly. Although the storm was reduced to a category 2 on Thursday morning, the authorities warned residents not to indulge in complacency, as there was still a high probability that the storm would cause life-threatening floods.

"Even if now [Hurricane Florence] is a category 2, there are only a few miles of difference between a category 3, and it is now a wider storm, "said Tammy Proctor of Pender County Emergency Management. Newsweek. "It's extremely important that people do not drop their guard because they've seen it go from 4 to 3 to 2 hours."

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Gerst explained in another tweet "Because of the size of Hurricane Florence, the storm could only be captured with a very wide-angle lens." He advised the East Coast to prepare because the storm is a "no joke nightmare".

In a third tweetGerst has published two photos of the same image to emphasize the importance of the big picture. In a cropped version of the photo, the storm is small and harmless; However, a second picture shows the magnitude of the hurricane.

A photo of Hurricane Florence taken from the International Space Station.
ESA / NASA

A photo taken of the International Space Station shows Hurricane Florence. ESA / NASA

The photos were taken from the Cupola Observatory following a request for control of the mission, according to NASA. The photos of the International Space Station can complement the data provided by Earth observation satellites, so that astronauts are sometimes invited to take pictures of the planet.

"Even in orbit around our planet at such a height, the size of the hurricane is incredibly impressive and humbling," wrote NASA.

American astronaut Ricky Arnold tweeted some of the photos of the storm and shared that everyone on the International Space Station keeps in their thoughts the people who are on the way to the storm.

Hurricane Florence, now a Category 2 storm, is visible from the International Space Station. ESA / NASA

Hurricane Florence, which is expected to result in potentially life-threatening floods on the east coast, is visible on a photo taken from the International Space Station. ESA / NASA

North Carolina is expected to be the most affected by Hurricane Florence. On Thursday, the National Weather Service (NWS) issued flash flood warnings for more than 40 areas of the state. Ten areas of South Carolina have been placed under a flash flood warning and Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia also have the potential to experience flash floods.

"It's a very dangerous storm," said Brock Long, a director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, at a press conference Thursday. "Inland floods unfortunately kill a lot of people and that's what we're about to see."

FEMA also warned residents of a prolonged power outage that could last for days, and encouraged people to help each other in the aftermath of the storm.