Watch South Carolina beach BATTERED by winds as storm looms

According to CNN, Florence’s center will approach the coasts of North and SC late Thursday and Friday, with the actual landfall expected to come on Friday afternoon.

The Carolinas and Virginia are preparing for the onslaught of Hurricane Florence later this week and one of the most life-threatening elements of the storm is the amount of rainfall predicted to hit the area, reports Vox.

WCNC-TV meteorologist Brad Panovich told WFAE Morning Edition host Marshall Terry that the shift of Florence means more rain for the Charlotte area.

Forecast models predict Florence’s center may slow to a crawl just off North Carolina early Friday and make a southwesterly turn – punishing the coast while moving perhaps only 2 to 3 miles per hour.

Florence is one of the strongest hurricanes on the eastern seaboard in decades, and will bring a triple threat of risky storm surge, flooding and hurricane-force winds in parts of the Carolinas and Mid-Atlantic states.

And Florence remained capable of unleashing rain-fueled catastrophic flooding of rivers and low-lying areas across a wide region. Heavy rains were forecast to extend into the Appalachian mountains, affecting parts of Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia.

As Hurricane Florence charges toward the Carolinas, airlines are issuing warnings about thousands of flights experiencing delays or cancellations, and giving out waivers to affected travelers.

Up to 1.7 million people have been ordered to evacuate across South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. Forecasters predict it will make landfall between Thursday and Friday.

States up and down the East Coast have a great potential for severe weather. “Don’t plan to leave once the winds and rain start”, said North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper.

The storm will be a test of President Donald Trump’s administration less than two months before elections to determine control of Congress. Hurricane-force winds extended 80 miles from its center, and tropical-storm-force winds up to 195 miles.

A hurricane warning is in effect for a big chunk of the Carolina coast, from the South Santee River below Myrtle Beach, S.C., to Duck, N.C. – part of the Outer Banks.

Body surfer Andrew Vanotteren, of Savannah, Georgia, crashes into waves from Hurricane Florence, Wednesday, September 12, 2018, on the south beach of Tybee Island, Georgia. Central North Carolina will not feel the worst of the storm until Friday morning. The more it hovers just off shore, the more potentially deadly storm surge it could push on-shore.

Forecasters anxious the storm’s damage will be all the worse if it lingers on the coast.

Hurricane Florence has decreased in speed and is now a Category 2 hurricane, the National Hurricane Center announced shortly before midnight Wednesday.

Energy companies have also warned that the storm could knock out power for the foreseeable future in some areas. Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands face possible isolated amounts of 3 inches.

The National Hurricane Center said the storm’s strength should continue through Thursday. It caused 117 fatalities and cost the US $17 billion. The four storms in the Atlantic come as another one in the Pacific is hitting Hawaii.

Another disturbance is swirling around in the Gulf of Mexico. That system could develop into a tropical depression by Friday.