Residents of the Carolinas and Virginia are bracing for Hurricane Florence, now a Category 4 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale and expected to become even more powerful and dangerous by the time it makes landfall on the U.S.’s eastern seaboard some time on Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said in a Tuesday update.
Florence was churning about 410 miles south of Bermuda early Tuesday. The storm packed maximum sustained winds of nearly 140 miles an hour, according to the hurricane center.
Officials posted hurricane and storm surge watches along the Atlantic coast from Edisto Beach, S.C., northward to the North Carolina-Virginia border.
Mandatory evacuations were set to begin at noon Tuesday across the coast in South Carolina, the state’s governor, Henry McMaster, said Monday. He expects about a million people to flee the coast, and said authorities will reverse lanes on major roadways to handle the traffic.
Florence is expected to produce total rainfall accumulations of 15 to 20 inches—with up to 30 inches possible in isolated locations—over portions of North Carolina, Virginia and northern South Carolina through Saturday, the hurricane center said early Tuesday. “This rainfall may produce life-threatening flash flooding,” the hurricane center said.
If the storm’s strength is sustained or worsens, it would be the strongest storm to hit the region since Hurricane Hugo 29 years ago.
“This storm is too powerful and its path is too uncertain to take any chances,” McMaster said in a statement.
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The biggest risks posed by Florence are from massive rainfall and strong winds, as well as a likely storm surge, said the NHC.
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Florence has two other hurricanes churning behind it, raising concerns about a repeat of 2017’s record-setting season, when storms named Harvey, Irma and Maria caused more than $200 billion of losses, according to reinsurer Munich Re.
Hurricane Isaac and Hurricane Helene are still too far away to accurately predict their paths, but both were strengthening Monday and were expected to continue to do so over the next few days.
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The Atlantic was not the only region experiencing storm conditions. Hurricane Olivia was moving about 480 miles east-northeast of Honolulu, with maximum sustained winds of close to 85 miles an hour. Olivia is expected to bring tropical storm conditions over parts of Hawaii starting late Tuesday, bad news for a state still cleaning up after Hurricane Lane caused massive rainfall, flooding and landslides in August.
Tropical Storm Paul was churning over the Pacific Ocean about 705 miles west of the southern tip of Baja California, according to another advisory. Paul is expected to weaken in the coming days.
As the chart illustrates, Hurricane Katrina, the storm that devastated New Orleans in 2005, remains the costliest ever for the U.S.
But 2017’s trio of hurricanes combined to create a record season. Hurricane Harvey caused the most damage in Texas, where it poured more than 30 inches of rain on 6.9 million people, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data. Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, where its cost, both human and to property, is still being calculated.
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