Alert! Hurricane Florence likely to hit Southeastern US

The tropical storm Florence which was upgraded to a hurricane on Sunday is soon expected to make landfall on the Southeastern coast of the United States.

"Florence is forecast to rapidly strengthen to a major hurricane by Monday and is expected to remain an extremely dangerous major hurricane through Thursday," the Wall Street Journal quoted the National Hurricane Center as saying.

According to reports, Florence is expected to turn into a dangerous Category 4 hurricane, with winds approaching 85 miles per hour. The coastal areas could also face storm surges and flooding, while communities father inland is likely to experience heavy and continuous rainfall.

"All indications are that Florence will be an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane while it moves over the western Atlantic toward the southeastern United States."

North Carolina and South Carolina governors Roy Cooper and Henry Mcmaster, respectively, declared a state of emergency, warning residents to start making preparations in order to brave the hurricane.

"Everyone in North Carolina needs to keep a close eye on Florence and take steps now to get ready for impacts later this week," Cooper wrote on Twitter.

The forecasters have been tracking two other big storms brewing right behind Florence: Isaac and Helene. While Helene has already turned into a hurricane on Sunday, Isaac is expected to reach the strength of a hurricane by Monday.

"We've had people asking for generators, water, plywood, flashlights," Ray Ciorra, an assistant manager at a home depot store in Myrtle Beach told Wall Street Journal that his store had to place emergency orders to restock supplies because of a steady demand from customers.

(ANI)