September 13, 2018. At 10:00 PM, Hurricane Florence was 50 miles S of Morehead City, NC with wind speed of 100 mph. It has slowed down considerably and is moving NW at 5 mph. Florence is currently a Category 2 hurricane with a pressure of 956mb.
The Storm Surge is 6 feet above normal on the Neuse River and it is not even high tide as of this hour. Winds are gusting 97 mph on the coast near Wilmington. Massive flooding from the storm surge and rain are being reported all along the coast.
The storm is moving very slow and is expected to cause massive destruction due to its slow movement. According to the National Hurricane Center (NHC), “The deepest water will occur along the immediate coast in areas of onshore winds, where the surge will be accompanied by large and destructive waves. Surge-related flooding can vary greatly over short distances.”
My friend William Hoehlein is in Wilmington. He states “We are expecting hurricane force winds from 10 PM until 8 AM tomorrow morning. Winds are expected to gust over 104 mph with possibly 30 inches of rain. The beach communities are already flooding and it will get worse as the heavy rains continue to fall.”
The NHC states, “Hurricane conditions have reached portions of the coast of North Carolina and are expected to spread elsewhere within the hurricane warning area overnight or early Friday. Tropical storm conditions are expected to spread inland and south across the remainder of the warning areas through Saturday.”
According to the NHC, “A slow westward to west-southwestward motion is expected Friday night and Saturday. On the forecast track, the center of Florence will approach the coasts of North and South Carolina later tonight, then move near or over the coast of southern North Carolina and northeastern South Carolina in the hurricane warning area on Friday. A slow motion across portions of eastern and central South Carolina is forecast Friday night through Saturday night.”
Our next update will be tomorrow morning. Please continue to pray for our friends and neighbors in the Wilmington area and the surrounding areas. We will compile a list of certified organizations tomorrow if you would like to give to disaster relief.
References:
William Hoehlein
The National Hurricane Center
Sharon Grimes Evans – Photo Credit
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