President Donald Trump has approved North Carolina’s Emergency Declaration.
The Latest on Hurricanes Florence and Isaac (all times local):
10:45 p.m.
President Donald Trump has approved North Carolina’s Emergency Declaration.
In a statement Monday night the administration says the president’s actions “authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts.”
The National Hurricane Center said Monday the monster storm continues to intensify and will be close to Category 5 strength by Tuesday. A Category 5 storm has the potential to cause catastrophic damage.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper urged residents to evacuate the state’s coastal areas as Florence moves closer to landfall.
10 p.m.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper is urging residents to evacuate the state’s coastal areas as Hurricane Florence moves closer to landfall.
Cooper’s office said in a statement Monday that the Category 4 hurricane is expected to hit the Wilmington area on Thursday, but impacts of the storm will likely begin Wednesday. Cooper says the state faces three threats from Florence: “ocean surge along our coast, strong winds, and inland flooding from heavy rain.”
Counties that have ordered evacuations are Bertie, Brunswick, Currituck, Dare, Hyde, New Hanover and Onslow. The statement says more evacuation orders are expected on Tuesday.
Residents are also urged to download the Ready NC app or follow NC Emergency Management on Facebook and Twitter for weather updates and to learn how to prepare for the storm.
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6:05 p.m.
Virginia’s governor has ordered a mandatory evacuation for some residents of low-lying coastal areas as Hurricane Florence approaches the East Coast.
Gov. Ralph Northam announced at a press conference Monday that the evacuation order set to begin Tuesday at 8 a.m. applies to parts of the Hampton Roads area and Eastern Shore. State officials say 245,000 people live in the affected area.
Northam says the evacuation zone includes the most flood-prone coastal areas.
The governor is urging all Virginia residents to prepare for the storm, which he says will affect the entire state.
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5:30 p.m.
Airlines are starting to let passengers change plans that include travel into the possible path of Hurricane Florence.
American Airlines said Monday it’ll waive fees for customers who are booked on flights Thursday through Sunday on flights to, from or through about two dozen cities in the Southeast including Charlotte, North Carolina, if they reschedule to no later than Sept. 19. Change fees are typically $200 for domestic flights.
Southwest Airlines says customers booked on flights Wednesday through Sunday in six cities including Charlotte can rebook or travel standby at no additional charge.
Delta and United websites did not show waivers as of midday Monday morning.
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5 p.m.
Hurricane Florence continues to grow in size and strength as it barrels toward the U. S. East Coast.
The National Hurricane Center said Monday the monster storm continues to intensify and will be close to Category 5 strength by Tuesday. A Category 5 storm has the potential to cause catastrophic damage.
“The bottom line is that there is high confidence that Florence will be a large and extremely dangerous hurricane, regardless of its exact intensity,” the hurricane center said. Florence was a Category 4 storm late afternoon Monday.
At 5 p.m. EDT, the storm’s center was located about 525 miles (845 kilometers) south-southeast of Bermuda and about 1,170 miles (1880 kilometers) east-southeast of Cape Fear, North Carolina.
Maximum sustained winds were clocked at 140 mph (220 kph) as it moved west-northwest at 13 mph (20 kph).
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4 p.m.
The governor of Maryland has declared a state of emergency in preparation for significant flooding from Hurricane Florence.
Gov. Larry Hogan made the announcement at a news conference Monday. While the governor noted there is still some uncertainty about the track of the storm, he says Maryland officials are “preparing for the potential of historic, catastrophic and life-threatening flooding in Maryland.”
Hogan says the declaration of emergency is a planning measure to ensure all necessary resources are mobilized in areas of the state with greatest potential need.
He says coastal and low-lying areas are of particular concern, as well as parts of the state that already have received substantial rainfall over the last few days.
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3:40 p.m.
The mayor of Richmond has declared a state of emergency as Virginia’s capital city braces for significant rain from Hurricane Florence.
Mayor Levar Stoney said Monday that even though the city is not expected to receive a direct impact from the hurricane, it is likely to mean heavy rain, strong winds, possible flooding and power outages.
Stoney urged residents to prepare now by gathering supplies, including nonperishable food, water, flashlights, and batteries. He said the city’s emergency operations center will be partially activated Wednesday and fully activated on Thursday.
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A mandatory evacuation order has been issued for residents living along the entire South Carolina coast.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster has ordered the evacuation to start at noon Tuesday as Hurricane Florence approaches. The order applies to all eight counties along the coast: Jasper, Beaufort, Colleton, Charleston, Dorchester, Georgetown, Horry, and Berkeley counties.
He says storm surge could reach as high as 10 feet (3 meters) and estimates 1 million residents will be leaving the coast. Eastbound lanes of Interstate 26 heading into Charleston and U. S. 501 heading into Myrtle Beach will be reversed when the order takes effect.
McMaster has already declared a state of emergency in South Carolina and asked President Donald Trump for a federal declaration ahead of the storm, which intensified Monday to a potentially catastrophic Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds near 130 mph (195 kph).
Forecasters say the hurricane’s strength is expected to fluctuate but it still will be a dangerous storm by the time it reaches the coast of South Carolina or North Carolina on Thursday.
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1:45 p.m.
North Carolina’s governor says consistency of the Hurricane Florence’s forecast track toward the Carolinas has helped the state understand the threat early on and given it time to get ready.
Gov. Roy Cooper said at a news conference at the state’s Emergency Operations Center that the North Carolina is in the “bull’s-eye” of the rapidly strengthening storm.
Cooper said he asked President Donald Trump for a federal disaster declaration so that resources will be ready when the storm arrives. Cooper already issued a state of emergency late last week.
The governor said residents should prepare for ocean surge, strong winds, and inland flooding. Thousands of law enforcement officers, National Guard troops, and government workers are focusing on storm preparations.
State emergency management officials already are considering whether to recommend counties evacuate some homes along the Tar, Lumber and Neuse rivers. High waters from the rivers impacted homes and businesses after Hurricane Matthew in October 2016.
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1 p.m.
National Hurricane Center Director Ken Graham warned that Florence was forecast to slow down significantly once it reaches shore and linger over the Carolinas. Predictions for heavy rainfall stretched into West Virginia.
“When you stall a system like this and it moves real slow, some of that rainfall can extend well away from the center,” Graham said. “It’s not just the coast.”
He warned people living on the coasts and well inland to prepare to lose power, among other storm impacts. “Rain plus winds equals a lot of trees down and power outages that could be for an extended period of time,” Graham said.
Elsewhere in the busy tropics, Graham said Hurricane Isaac was expected to lose strength as it reaches the Caribbean, but it could still bring rain and strong winds to parts of Puerto Rico.
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12:10 p.m.
Florence has become even stronger over the Atlantic Ocean.
Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center say Florence rapidly intensified Monday morning to a potentially catastrophic Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds near 130 mph (195 kph).
Florence had reached Category 3 strength earlier Monday, but data from hurricane hunter aircraft indicate the storm is quickly getting stronger as it moves over warm Atlantic waters.
Forecasters say the hurricane’s strength is expected to fluctuate but it still will be a dangerous storm by the time it reaches the coast of South Carolina or North Carolina on Thursday.
As of noon EDT, Florence was centered about 575 miles (925 kilometers) south-southeast of Bermuda, moving west at 13 mph (20 kph).
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11 a.m.
The U. S. Navy is sending nearly 30 of its Virginia-based ships out to sea as Hurricane Florence barrels toward the Atlantic Coast.
Navy spokeswoman Alana Garas said the ships will disembark Monday from naval bases including the world’s largest in Norfolk. The ships will head to portions of the Atlantic where they can avoid the storm.
Some ships will stay behind because they’re undergoing maintenance and may be tied down with additional mooring and storm lines.
Meanwhile, naval bases near Virginia’s coast are also sandbagging flood prone areas and topping off fuel generators.
Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center have said Florence is expected to be an extremely dangerous storm by the time it nears the coast of South Carolina or North Carolina on Thursday.
