Florence strengthens, over 1 5 million ordered to flee

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Hurricane Florence, a Category 4 storm and the most powerful to menace the Carolinas in nearly three decades, has caused evacuation orders for more than 1.5 million people along the U.S. Atlantic coast.

More than 1.5 million people have been told to flee their homes as Hurricane Florence barrels toward The Eastern seaboard.

The Category 4 storm is the most powerful hurricane to threaten the Carolinas in 3 decades..

It’s packing winds of 130 miles-per-hour — and is expected to grow even stronger before making landfall on Friday.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) Jeff Byard, FEMA Associate Administrator for the Office of Response and Recovery, saying:

“Currently there is nothing projected to slow the storm down, to weaken the storm, we ARE planning for a hard impact of the Category 4 storm, somewhere on the coast of North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia. We will experience power outages, infrastructure damages, there will be homes damaged.”

Many North Carolina residents say, they don’t want to leave. Others say, they’re out.

RESIDENT SOT: “Over the years I have seen the damage these storms can do. So I don’t really want to take no chances on it.”

Trump tweeted his support for the Carolinas and Virginia, Monday night – ‘urging residents to take all necessary precautions’

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam joined the chorus of warnings, and issued an evacuation order for about a quarter million residents in flood-prone coastal areas, beginning Tuesday morning.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) VIRGINIA GOVERNOR, RALPH NORTHAM, SAYING:

“The largest threat to life from hurricanes is not the high winds, flooding is the deadliest result of these storms.”

Some areas could see storm surges as high as 12 feet, and as much as 30 inches of rain.

Forecasters are also warning the storm could linger for days after making landfall.

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