Port operations along the East Coast stopped; state of emergency declared in North Carolina.
The National Hurricane Center reported at 11 a.m. EDT Thursday that Hurricane Florence was moving northwest at 10 mph and that heavy bands of rain and tropical storm-force winds were spreading across the Outer Banks and coastal southeastern North Carolina.
“Life-threatening storm surge and rainfall expected,” the Hurricane Center warned.
A headline on The Weather Channel’s website said the “long siege” had begun.
“Catastrophic flash flooding, high winds to hammer the Carolinas, Appalachia,” The Weather Channel said.
Now a Category 2 hurricane, Florence is expected to make landfall in the Carolinas Thursday night or Friday morning. The Weather Channel said as of Thursday morning, the eye of the hurricane was about 145 miles east-southeast of Wilmington, N.C.
Both the ports of Wilmington and Morehead City were closed Thursday and will remain closed Friday. North Carolina Ports said reopening information will be posted on its website.
The South Carolina Ports Authority posted on its website that the Port of Charleston would be closed to vessel and gate operations Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with Sunday operations possible depending on conditions at the port.
There will be no train or gate operations in Dillon, S.C., until Monday. Georgetown also is expected to reopen Monday.
The Port of Virginia said Thursday that Fifth District Hampton Roads, the main shipping channel, remained closed at the Virginia Capes. Truck gates at all six Port of Virginia cargo terminals were open Thursday.
The port said truck gates will be closed Friday at NIT, PMT, NNMT, VIG and PPCY. Truck gates will be open at the Richmond Marine Terminal and the Virginia Inland Port on Friday.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper has declared a state of emergency for the entire state. And FEMA reported that Thursday was the “last good day to evacuate.”
Meanwhile, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s planned public listening session on revising hours of service regulations scheduled for Friday in Washington, D.C., has been canceled because of the severe weather conditions associated with Florence. FMCSA will announce a new date on its website.
Florence forecast to cause ‘catastrophic flash flooding’
