Almost ten million people are warned that they are in the path of the storm.
Mandatory evacuation orders have been issued in coastal areas of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia, ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Florence this week, but many residents in the area have decided to stay.
Due to the slow speed of the actual movement of the hurricane itself, it is anticipated that the storm will 'stall' over land, resulting in a huge amount of rainfall and flooding.
CNN are reporting that "This thing is going to stop, and it's going to rain -- and it's going to rain. We could see three feet [of rain in places]."
North Carolina governor Roy Cooper said that "This storm is a monster. It’s big and it’s vicious. It is an extremely dangerous, life-threatening, historic hurricane.
"The waves and the wind this storm may bring is nothing like you’ve ever seen. Even if you’ve ridden out storms before, this one is different. Don’t bet your life on riding out a monster."
https://twitter.com/NC_Governor/status/1039619177244487680
AccuWeather Vice President of Forecasting and Graphics Operations Marshall Moss said:
"A storm with the track of Florence is unprecedented. It was located father north in the Atlantic than any other storm to ever hit the Carolinas, so what we’re forecasting is unprecedented.
"Also, most storms coming into the Carolinas tend to move northward, and this storm looks like it’s going to stall over the region and potentially bring tremendous, life-threatening flooding."
