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Hurricane Florence, which has been upgraded to a Category 4 hurricane, is scheduled to make landfall in North and South Carolina sometime after Tuesday, September 11. The storm, which is capable of creating “catastrophic” damage, now has maximum sustained winds of 130 mph. It is expected to make landfall on Thursday, September 13.
So far, State of Emergencies has been declared in South Carolina, North Carolina, Maryland, and Virginia. Additionally, evacuations have been ordered in Dare and Brunswick counties in North Carolina, the Hatteras Island, and the Ocracoke Island.
South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster also declared a mandatory evacuation for the coast of South Carolina, which will go into effect on Tuesday, September 11 at Noon.
via CNN:
Further strengthening is expected, as Florence moves toward North and South Carolina, where it could unleash its fury as the most powerful storm to hit the region in three decades. The National Hurricane Center forecasts Florence to hit the shore late Thursday night or early Friday morning.
Swells up to 15 feet could batter the coast, Myers said, and the storm system is likely to stall when it crosses land, dumping up to 20 inches of rain on some inland locations.
Florence was about 575 miles southeast of Bermuda as of noon ET Monday, or about 1,230 miles from Cape Fear, North Carolina. The storm was moving west at 13 mph, the hurricane center said.
The center of the hurricane was forecast to move between Bermuda and the Bahamas on Tuesday and Wednesday and approach the US coast on Thursday as a Category 3 storm or higher, according to the hurricane center.
As for universities affected by the storm, so far, Hurricane Florence has prompted a mandatory evacuation of the University of North Carolina-Wilmington. The evacuation will be effective at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, September 11, and students must leave campus no later than 12 p.m.
ALERT: UNCW has issued a mandatory campus evacuation for all students, effective at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 11. Students must evacuate campus beginning at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 11, and must leave campus no later than 12 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 11. – https://t.co/4tGz5lxwwP pic.twitter.com/PkFACbDAT0
— UNCW (@UNCWilmington) September 10, 2018
East Carolina University has also canceled classes throughout the week, beginning on Tuesday. While ECU has yet to mandate an evacuation, they are monitoring the situation and are planning to give an update on the morning of Tuesday, September 11.
ECU ALERT: ECU classes scheduled to start after 12 p.m. Tuesday are canceled; no classes remainder of week; faculty/staff see https://t.co/Qe2FJO5RWF for conditions.
— ECU Alert (@ECUalert) September 10, 2018
The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill is also closely monitoring the storm, although there are no “current changes to campus operation.”
There are no current changes to campus operations. If conditions change, look for announcements on https://t.co/FGLAG6w8IL and https://t.co/sLY3gL8DKY. Make sure you're registered to receive texts from the University and download LiveSafe, #UNC's emergency safety app
— UNC-Chapel Hill (@UNC) September 10, 2018
While the University of South Carolina has yet to officially announce their contingency plans, the Gamecocks football staff is closely monitoring the storm as it could potentially affect their Saturday, September 15 game against Marshall.
SCEMD
You can find more vital information about the storm over on SCEMD.org.
