400,000 People Without Power As Florence Slams The Carolinas

Roughly 400,000 people have lost power as Hurricane Florence begins to batter the North Carolina and South Carolina coasts, according to CNN.

Florence began its assault late Thursday with strong winds and storm surges leading the way of the storm. Florence is currently a Category 1 hurricane but will cause the destruction of a much more powerful storm because of its slow movement. The storm’s eye made landfall Friday morning. (RELATED: As Hurricane Florence Moves In Democrats Are Holding Up Trump’s Pick To Head EPA’s Emergency Response Division)

“With this storm, it’s a [Category 1] but the storm surge and the flooding is going to be that of a Category 4,” CNN meteorologist Jennifer Gray said Thursday night, according to CNN.

“I see a biblical proportion flood event that’s going to occur,” Wilmington police chief Ralph Evangelous told ABC News. “I see the beach communities being inundated with water and destruction that will be pretty, pretty epic in nature.”

Areas along the coast of the Carolinas began losing power early as wind and rain wreaked havoc on power lines and transformers.

“It’s not going to take much in a lot of these areas to saturate the soil, so trees are going to come down really easily” and knock down power lines, National Hurricane Center director Ken Graham told CNN.

Authorities ordered more than 1 million people to evacuate before Florence hit. Although some disregarded the warning and chose to ride out the storm in their homes, most have fled the area and are staying in government shelters or with friends or family outside the main impact of the storm.

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