Florence's diameter is 400 miles - she is larger than the country of Paraguay, smaller than Iraq, and about 4 times the size of the state of Ohio.
River flooding is expected to hit at 17 feet above normal.
About 2 million people live inside the current evacuation zones.
About 5.5 million people live in areas that will be affected by Florence.
Projected damage costs from Florence will probably exceed $30 billion.
Insurance is hoped to cover $15 to $20 billion of those estimated damages.
$10 million was recently diverted from FEMA funds to pay for ICE detention centers and deportation efforts against asylum seekers and their children by the current White House administration.
1,000 commercial airline flights have been canceled, and quite a few more are expecting to be canceled due to the storm.
Since 1950, four hurricanes of category 3 strength have made landfall on the Atlantic coast between Norfolk, Virginia and Savannah, Georgia.
The deaths of five people have been confirmed due to Florence. The storm's powerful winds were the cause of the confirmed deaths. In Wilmington, a tree was blown into a home; a woman and her infant child were killed, while the husband (and father) was transported to the hospital with injuries. The third death occurred in Pender County when a woman suffered a fatal heart attack and first responders could not reach her location due to storm debris in and on the roads. Two deaths were confirmed in Kinston in Lenoir County, also, according to the County Emergency Services Director, Roger Dail. A 78-year-old man was electrocuted while trying to connect extension cords outside in the storm. A 77-year-old man's body was found by his family at 8 am on Friday; he had gone outside to check on his hunting dogs, and apparently was blown down by the wind.
Additionally a fatality was reported at West Brunswick High School in Shallotte, North Carolina. The school is being used as an evacuation shelter, and the cause of death and/or it's relationship to Florence is unknown. A teenager was reported seriously injured when a tree limb fell on both him and his father in Laurinburg, NC on Friday.
Friday night, the Carteret County Humane Society said floodwaters were entering the kennel area and its roof was collapsing. The shelter was seeking help to evacuate 123 dogs and cats, according to shelter manager Cassandra Tupaj. At 7:15 am (EDT) Friday, Florence made landfall at Wrightsville Beach with 90 mph winds, heavy surf, and torrential rain that triggered flooding and knocked down trees and power lines. Tom Ballance, a New Bern resident and restaurant owner who rode out several previous hurricanes, says he desperately wishes he would've evacuated as he watched the waves crash on the Neuse River right outside his home. "I feel like the dumbest human being who ever walked the face of the Earth, " Ballance told the Associated Press.
Some 100 people were still awaiting rescue this morning in New Bern, but nearly 400 had already been rescued, according to a local official. New Bern, which has a population of about 30,000, saw significant storm surge flooding after the Neuse River overflowed its banks and swept through the town.
Officials in Harnett County issued a mandatory evacuation for areas along the Lower Little River. Authorities went door-to-door this morning, telling residents to get out ahead of the river's expected rise, which could crest at 17 feet above flood stage. It wasn't immediately clear how many residents this evacuation order impacted.
In Wilmington, Interstate 40 was closed in both directions today because the road was impassable. Police urged residents to stay away from areas under mandatory evacuations.
Across the state, more than 800,000 homes and businesses were without power, North Carolina Emergency Management said.
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At home, on Chincoteague and Assateague Islands in Virginia and Maryland, it's 76 degrees with a 40% chance of rain. Rip tides are occurring off the coast, and a coastal flood watch is in effect.
In Boulder, Colorado it's 84 degrees, with 18% humidity; bright and sunny with no cloud cover. We're under a Red Flag warning for wildfire conditions.
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