(Image source from: South China Morning Post)
Over a million people living along the coastlines of South Carolina and Virginia have been ordered to evacuate their homes on Tuesday, as parts of America's mid-Atlantic coast brace for what could be the most powerful violent storm to ever hit the region.
Hurricane Florence is expected to bring potentially catastrophic winds, flooding and storm surge. According to forecasters predict, it will make landfall sometime late Thursday.
Currently rated as a category 4 storm - the second most powerful on the national weather service's (NWS) classification system - Florence would be the first storm of that magnitude in recorded history to strike the eastern coastline up to now north if it remains on its most likely track.
In its latest advisory, the United States National Hurricane Center (NHC) said the storm is expected to be an extremely dangerous major hurricane through Thursday.
Florence "is particularly big, particularly strong and ... there's nothing stopping it," the South Carolina governor Henry McMaster said at a news conference on Monday. "And when it hits the Gulf Stream in warmer water, it’s going to (intensify) even more."
The evacuation orders of coastal areas were made by McMaster to start at noon on Tuesday as Hurricane Florence approaches. He said the storm surge could reach as high as 10ft (3m) and estimated that 1 million residents would be leaving the coast.
"We know this evacuation order I'm issuing is going to be inconvenient," McMaster said of the decision. "But we're willing to suffer some inconvenience." He added that the disruption was worth the effort to save lives.
"This is a big, big hurricane," McMaster said, noting that wind speeds are predicted to be more violent than in either of the region's two most damaging storms of the past 30 years.
Virginia's governor ordered a mandatory evacuation for some residents of low-lying coastal areas beginning on Tuesday morning. State officials say 245,000 people live in the affected area, but officials warned the storm could affect the entire state.
McMaster declared a state of emergency on Saturday. The governors of Virginia, North Carolina, and Maryland have done the same. The designation gives officials the power to do order evacuations, establishing shelters, prohibit travel and impose curfews.
"Take steps now," said North Carolina governor Roy Cooper over the weekend. On Monday he said: "We do know that we're in the bulls-eye."
On Monday afternoon, Donald Trump canceled a scheduled appearance for Friday in Jackson, Mississippi.
The NWS is predicting "life-threatening" storm surge and inland freshwater flooding, with some models predicting upwards of 2ft of rainfall. With winds of up to 150mph forecast, Florence will likely fallen tree limbs and trigger power outages.
North Carolina officials have already issued compulsory evacuation orders for coastal Dare County and Hatteras Island. The governor as well waived certain limitations for trucks and heavy vehicles to assist farmers to harvest crops and move livestock before the storm, officials said.
By Sowmya Sangam
