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A perfect storm of unfortunate circumstances mean Florence could deal a devastating blow to the Southeast. Here’s why this hurricane is especially dangerous:
1. Its brute force
Florence catapulted from a Category 2 to a Category 4 hurricane over the span of several hours. Even scarier: It could get more intense as it nears the Carolinas.
“This storm is going to get stronger before it makes landfall,” CNN meteorologist Chad Myers said.
As of Tuesday morning, the tropical cyclone was hurling 130-mph winds.
On top of that, expect incredibly high storm surge — basically a wall of water that could fall on and swallow parts of the coast.
“This will have a storm surge in the 20-foot range,” Myers said.
Any storm surge taller than 12 feet is “life-threatening,” National Hurricane Center Director Ken Graham said. “It’s very dangerous.”
2. It could cause massive inland flooding
Aside from that mammoth coastal flooding, Florence will likely inundate cities far inland as well.
Florence is on track to slow down significantly after landfall. And the longer a hurricane hovers over land, the more rain it dumps in the same place.
Some areas could get deluged with 20 inches of rain, Myers said.
The problem is, much of the Carolinas are already saturated from rainfall. So the land can’t absorb much more water.
“Inland flooding will be a major threat and something people far from the landfall location should be concerned about,” CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller said.
3. It’s barreling toward people not used to big hurricanes
If the latest forecast holds, Florence will strike farther north on the East Coast than any other Category 4 hurricane in history.
And in the 29 years since Hurricane Hugo struck, the population of the coastal Carolinas has skyrocketed.
“There’s 25% more people living between Charleston (South Carolina) and Morehead City (North Carolina) than there were when Hugo was making landfall,” CNN meteorologist Myers said.
“Many of the people here have never seen a storm this strong,” Myers said.
“They have no idea what ‘overwash’ of an island will do to a home, what the wind could do to your home and what to do to your home to make it safer after you evacuate.”
Even Wilmington, North Carolina — a coastal city accustomed to severe weather — is bracing for an unusually brutal impact.
“We’re a resilient bunch down here. We go through a lot of these hurricane scares throughout the years,” Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo said. “But this is pretty serious.”
He warned residents to take precautions “because once this storm is upon us, we’re not going to be able to send emergency personnel out to rescue you.”
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