September 11, 2018. As of 5AM EST, Hurricane Florence appears to be riding the Bermuda High that is in place. It is expected to make landfall near Jacksonville, NC. This is based on the prediction cone and could go south or north of Jacksonville.
The current location of the storm is 410 miles South of Bermuda, traveling at 15 MPH. Wind speed is 138 MPH with gusts of 167 MPH. According to the National Hurricane Center, a mid-level ridge to the northeast of Bermuda is expected to steer Florence quickly West-Northwestward toward the Southeast United States coast over the next 2 to 3 days.
As of the writing of this story, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam has ordered a mandatory evacuation of in the Hampton Roads area and the Eastern Shore. Not all universities in the Hampton Roads area have cancelled classes. We reached out to Regent University in Virginia Beach and spoke with campus police. They advised that the University was going to have a meeting this morning to determine if classes will be cancelled. We requested a phone call from Student Life, but at the release of this story, no one has called us back.
Hampton Roads is expected to get at least 10 inches or more of rain with possible hurricane force winds. Inland flooding is also expected in Virginia and North Carolina.
The next update will be this evening.
References:
The National Hurricane Center
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