Hurricane Florence is on track to make landfall on the US east coast somewhere along South or North Carolina around Friday morning
It's packing winds of more than 200 kilometres an hour, and forecasters warn it threatens to create a storm surge that in some places will reach 4 metres high


Hurricane Florence fast facts:

• Florence is a Category 3 hurricane "steadily" approaching the U.S. East Coast
• Storm is forecast to be "an extremely dangerous major hurricane when it nears the U.S. coast late Thursday and Friday," the National Hurricane Center (NHC) says
• As of 8 p.m. ET, the NHC says Florence was centered about 335 miles southeast of Wilmington, North Carolina, and about 370 miles east-southeast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It's moving at about 16 mph with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph
• Storm's center will "approach the coast of North Carolina or South Carolina in the hurricane warning area Thursday and Friday, and move slowly near the coastline through Saturday," the NHC says
• The track has shifted somewhat south and west, throwing Georgia into peril as Florence moves inland
• More than 10 million residents in North and South Carolina and Virginia are under a storm watch or warning; 5.25 million people are under hurricane warnings and watches and another 4.89 million under tropical storm watches and warnings, according to the National Weather Service



August last year, Hurricane Harvey smashed into the Gulf State of Texas.
The winds and storm surge caused huge damage to coastal communities, but it was the flooding that created the greatest problems.
Like Florence, Harvey came laden with moisture. And instead of tracking quickly over the state, it virtually stopped over the Houston area.
For several days the torrential rain simply didn't stop. In some areas, well over a metre of rain was dumped on flat land with limited drainage





Meteorologists are predicting Hurricane Florence could see a repeat of the Harvey experience.
Like Harvey, Florence is likely to hit the coast as a category 4 storm, carrying incredible amounts of moisture.
And a blocking high, or a high-pressure system, is sitting to the north and could slow the progress of Florence right down.
The more time it sits over an area, the greater the danger of catastrophic flooding. Even well inland, boats may be the most valuable means of transport.
That's what's got so many governors and mayors warning their people not to be complacent, and that Florence is a life-threatening storm

Sandbags surround beachside homes in North Carolina, after forecasters predicted 4-metre storm surges

waoh

Boarded up shop in North Carolina

Hurricane Florence is slowing down on its way toward the North Carolina coastline, and its peak sustained winds have diminished — but it will bring the storm surge equivalent to a Category 4 and an inland flooding threat of historic proportions.

Florence weakened on Wednesday into Thursday morning as some dry air and wind shear at upper levels of the atmosphere impinged on the huge storm's southwest side. This had the effect of disrupting the core of the hurricane.