Cleveland natives make it home as Hurricane Florence cancels thousands of flights

That mix of impressions – a respect for this storm’s sheer size and the massive amount of rain and seawater it brings, along with a resignation to storms being part of life on the coast – is also part of the reaction in low-lying areas to the north. That same area experienced risky flooding after Hurricane Matthew in 2016.

WCNC Meteorologist Brad Panovich: In the Charlotte area, we’re not going to see any rain during the day today. “When I left the Island, AFTER the storm had hit, they had anywhere from 6 to 18 deaths …”

Heavy rain, gusting winds and rising floodwaters from Hurricane Florence deluged the Carolinas on Thursday as the massive, slow-moving storm crept toward the coastline, threatening millions of people in its path with record rainfall and punishing surf.

“Sometime Friday afternoon, Friday evening or Saturday morning”, Goldstein said.

She said a hurricane has a way of bringing everyone to the same level. “We’re able”, he said. There’s a Tropical Storm Warning for the I-95 corridor there too. “And since we have three dogs and three parrots, they’re requesting us to purchase two to six rooms”.

However, many are choosing to stay put, with some saying the emergency shelters do not accept pets and others with sick relatives saying hotels have pumped up their prices so much it is prohibitive. “We have a safe basement and generator that comes on automatically”.

“I’m not anxious at all”, said Richard Ford, 34, smoking a cigarette outside one of Wilmington’s five shelters. “So since we can’t find anything within our means. we’ve opted to stay”. The city said early Friday that two out-of-state FEMA teams were working on swift-water rescues and more teams were on the way. It’s a kind gesture but doesn’t alleviate Browning’s fear.

Panovich: Pretty much everybody from Charlotte east is going to see heavy rain. “But I think it’ll be OK”.

Browning said she had started a GoFundMe campaign in case repairs are needed for the family home. Here’s why this storm threatens not only the coast but millions of people inland.

The EOC began 24-hour operations at 7 p.m. on Thursday, said Erik Hayes, director of the Sumter Emergency Management Office.

North Carolinians made last-minute preparations and hunkered down to await Florence’s arrival.

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper warned against complacency.

Even the thousands of emergency workers on scene – ranging from power workers to National Guardsmen to cops, many of them volunteers from across the country – could only sit and wait for Florence to do its worst before they could do their best. On Thursday the health system did not have any patients admitted from hospitals in SC.

His bustling pizza restaurant is one of the few businesses open in the evacuated town.

He said that people living near rivers, streams and lowland areas in the region were most at risk. His work has also appeared in Salon, Raw Story, Truthdig, National Memo, Philadelphia Weekly, Democratic Underground, L.A. Weekly, MintPress News and many other publications.

On Monday, with the storm appearing to shift south, McMaster, the SC governor, ordered schools in Aiken County, near the Georgia line, to close for the rest of the week to free up shelter space for hurricane evacuees.