Strong gusting winds, heavy rain downpour, and floodwaters rising at an alarming rate due to Hurricane Florence deluged the Carolinas on Thursday as the massive storm continues to make its way toward the coastlines, further endangering the lives of millions of people living along its predicted path while threatening to cause a surmounting amount of property damages expected to reach in billions of dollars.
According to the latest report from ABC, Hurricane Florence, which measures a whopping 500 miles across, has already caused a significant degree of damages to the North Carolina coast long before its eye reached the area.
Video footages cited by the news outlet showcase huge waves of water coming from the sea crashing onto the harbor, breaking docks in the process. Highways and neighboring roads can also be seen getting flooded by a quick rising level of water. Another clip showed strong gust of winds blowing from the direction of the ocean.
Another set of videos featured by ABC revealed a number of beach houses getting rummaged by the floodwater. Even the residential homes far away from the coastline weren't spared as the storm makes its way across the two states.
Follow-up reports from the New York Times further said that thousands of people in the southeastern North Carolina had experienced power outages on Thursday. It is expected that more residences, especially in Wilmington NC, will suffer most when the worst winds brought by Hurricane Florence begins its entry into the mainland.
Damage to Properties and Threat to Human Lives
According to Accuweather's senior meteorologist, Alex Sosnowski, in this report, the storm is now well on its path of destruction which could endanger the lives of millions of people as well as threaten billions of dollars in property damage as the doomed weekend comes to a close.
By estimation, Hurricane Florence may cause USD$30-60 billion worth of economic damages to the two states. The figure could still increase. In comparison, 2017's Hurricane Harvey brought a massive impact costing the country close to USD$200 billion in damages.
The weather website's VP of Forecasting and Graphics Operations, Marshal Moss, noted that although there are minor fluctuations in strength detected from this hurricane, it will likely to increase and will continue to peak as it makes its landfall. The mixture of warm waters and wind force it picks up along the way may somehow drag Florence down.
On Wednesday, the hurricane's forward speed halted from 17 mph to 5 mph on Thursday afternoon.
The eye of Hurricane Florence, meanwhile, is expected to sway along the coast of North Carolina by Friday which may pose risk on Cape Lookout and Cape Fear, the site added.
