Florence _ Agencies
The strong winds accompanying hurricane Florence began hitting the coasts of North Carolina, Thursday, at a time when the southeastern state of the country was prepared for the huge storm.
The main concerns of the emergency response teams in preparing for the storm were flooding, with a water level of about four meters, due to rainfall of 75 centimetres.
The National Cyclone Center said in a report at 5:00 p.m. local time (2100 GMT) that the eye of Hurricane Florence was 160 kilometers from Wilmington in North Carolina. The storm continued to be a second-class cyclone, with a maximum wind speed of 155 kilometres per hour.
The officials urged some 1.5 million people living in the mandatory evacuation areas to follow warnings and leave their areas, saying on Thursday that time was running out fast in front of their chance to go out.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency said early on Thursday: "The force of the storm is fatal. Anyone in the evacuation area of North, South Carolina and Virginia should now leave. "
The National Meteorological Authority (NTRA) reported that it had already seen reports of trees falling and urged people who had not planned to evacuate their homes to stay indoors and sleep in the interior rooms.
The panel said via Twitter that Florence would be slow to move through North Carolina, indicating that it would lead to heavy rains and sudden life-threatening floods throughout the southeastern United States.
