The first pictures and videos out of Hurricane Florence appeared on Thursday, showing conditions on the Carolina coast and elsewhere as the storm closed in. The region was preparing for Florence to make landfall Thursday night or Friday evening before moving even farther inland.
Rain and wind hit the region on Thursday as the storm closed in. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) authorities said the outer bands of the storm would hit fully in just a few hours.
See the latest updates on Hurricane Florence's path and potential affected areas here.
Photos and videos from Thursday showed massive winds whipping up waves on the North Carolina coast as the first of the storm's effects were felt. Other images, including one posted by WSOC-TV meteorologist John Ahrens, revealed water beginning to cover the roads in Florence, South Carolina.
Water already covering road #Florence @wsoctv pic.twitter.com/IdycMyXw5s
— John Ahrens (@JohnAhrensWSOC9) September 13, 2018
A video captured from the International Space Station, meanwhile, showed the Hurricane as it closed in on the Eastern Seaboard—the swirling clouds appearing massive from space.
Cameras outside the space station captured new views of a somewhat weakened #HurricaneFlorence at 6:56 a.m. EDT Sept. 13 as it neared the U.S. Eastern seaboard. According to the National Hurricane Center, Florence is moving northwest with winds of 110 miles an hour. pic.twitter.com/vw2yxrhTmZ
— Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) September 13, 2018
Other pictures from the scene showed boarded up businesses in barren neighborhoods, after residents evacuated, fleeing the path of the storm. Some pictures showed people gathering—despite the severe conditions—to watch as waves lashed from the storm.
In the latest update on the storm released at 11 a.m. on Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said wind speeds had decreased slightly, to 105 miles per hour, but that potential storm surges still posed a massive danger. The NHC said a "life-threatening" storm surge was highly likely on the coasts of the Carolinas, particularly between Cape Fear and Cape Hatteras, including the Neuse and Pamlico Rivers and western Pamlico Sound.
"Catastrophic effects will be felt outside the center of the storm due to storm surge as high as 9 to 13 feet," North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said on Thursday. "That's the second story of a house. Tens of thousands of structures are expected to be flooded and many more by rising rivers and creeks."
The storm was still a Category 2 on Thursday afternoon and was expected to make landfall either Thursday night or Friday morning, lingering in the area for hours or days.
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