Hurricane Florence path: Track where the category 4 storm is as it barrels towards US coastline

US East Coast could see tropical storm winds beginning Wednesday, with major impacts beginning starting as soon as Thursday

Millions are preparing for the potentially catastrophic impact of Hurricane Florence, as the category 4 storm continues its menacing path towards the Carolina coasts in the southeast United States.

Florence, as of Tuesday morning, was roughly 950 miles east-southeast of Cape Fear, North Carolina, and approximately 450 miles south of Bermuda, according to the National Hurricane Centre (NHC).

That government centre, which tracks the speed and location of hurricanes in the Atlantic and Pacific, says that the hurricane is moving towards the US at a speed of 15 mph, with sustained winds at about 130 mph.

Forecasts for Florence predict the storm barrelling down on the southeastern US later this week, with tropical storm force winds impacting the coast as early as Wednesday evening before more significant conditions are seen Thursday.

“On the forecast track, the centre of Florence will move over the southwestern Atlantic Ocean between Bermuda and the Bahamas Tuesday and Wednesday, and approach the coast of South Carolina and North Carolina on Thursday,” the NHC said.

Officials have already issued evacuation orders for some of the areas expected to be hit the hardest, with more than a million fleeing the coastal regions. Governors in North and South Carolina, as well as Virginia and Maryland, have declared states of emergency — freeing up emergency funds to handle hurricane response and recovery operations.

It is likely that, wherever the hurricane comes ashore, the area will be devastated — and landfall is expected to be followed by days of torrential rain and damaging winds if the storm stalls over the Carolinas and Virginia.

The particulars of this storm — which is currently projected to hit the coast as a category 4 storm but could potentially strengthen before then — could mean this storm is of historic proportions.

“All of our computer models that we really like, that we say these are the accurate ones, are all lining up and saying this thing’s going to explode, this thing’s going to move West and then eventually Northwest,” Jon Cash, a meteorologist, told CBN News.

“The key really is this thing is going to be a huge storm when it threatens the coast and this is just something that doesn’t happen every day when you see things lining up as they are,” he continued.