Hurricane Florence: The Devastating Storm

As the first major hurricane of the 2018 hurricane season, Florence is one to watch out for.

The hurricane still has not threatened the East Coast yet, but it has strengthened to a category 2 hurricane with winds of up to 90 mph. It is still too early to see if the hurricane will veer off into the ocean or make landfall.

Behind Hurricane Florence are two tropical depressions, both with a 90% chance of becoming a hurricane. The next eight weeks are when hurricanes are at their highest of the hurricane season which is from June 1 to November 30. While Puerto Rico, Texas, and Florida are still reeling from last year's hurricane season some preparing for the worst. Meteorologists have many different scenarios for the storm; one of them is that the hurricane increases in size while making major landfall onto North Carolina.

The other scenario is that heavy jet streams force the hurricane out to sea, making no major landfall onto the US. A major reason why meteorologists are talking about Hurricane Florence is because, unlike most other storms, it is more north and east.

During the 2017 hurricane season, the vast majority of hurricanes hit the Southeast: Florida was hit very hard during Hurricane Irma while Texas is still dealing with Hurricane Harvey. Puerto Rico is finally being able to have power and function as a country but more than 3,000 people died during the storm. https://www.forbes.com/sites/marshallshepherd/2018/09/06/3-reasons-meteorologists-are-talking-about-hurricane-florence/#3cadde3f685b

The first scenario will happen and make landfall on Friday into the Carolinas. Becoming a category four hurricane entails maximum winds of 90 mph and devastating damage could occur. The Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland, and Georgia have all declared a state of emergency and are ordering mandatory evacuations.

On Friday, September 14 the hurricane made landfall at 7:15 am with a category 2 winds. Hurricane Florence with have more than 40 inches of rain in some areas and the storm surges. The storm surges. have hit more than 10 feet in Morehead City, NC. So far there have been no reported fatalities. Many who did not evacuate are suffering and search and rescue teams are trying to get everyone out. In Wilmington more than 10 shelters are full. https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/14/us/hurricane-florence-south-east-coast-wxc/index.html

By Sarah-Anne Seligman