From the Eye of the Storm…Florence Bears Down on Raleigh
***PLEASE BE AWARE: IF YOU LIVE IN COASTAL VIRGINIA OR CAROLINA and are NOT thinking about evacuating right now, then you are in very serious danger. Turn on the news or click the links below.***
Looks like a direct hit is coming.
Sylvia and Brian, the cast and crew of Becauseitzthere, are based out of Raleigh, NC. For those of you not paying attention, the Carolinas are about to get hit by the worst storm in over 20 years. This would be Hurricane Florence.
blob:https://www.wral.com/9a5e739f-da56-445f-a732-9f8892b88343
Hurricane Florence currently has sustained winds of over 140 MPH, making it a Category 4 Hurricane (and close to Category 5.) This means that it is a very, very big storm, with the potential to do a great deal of damage.
The last time a Hurricane this big landed was in 1996 when Hurricane Fran made landfall, wiping out whole sections of the coast. The storm cost 22 lives and caused over five billion dollars of damage.
https://www.wral.com/weather/hurricanes/
The current track for Florence has it making landfall in NC on Thursday evening and going almost directly over the Raleigh area. The last update at 11 PM Monday shifted the landfall somewhat north, but still has us very much in the hurricane’s cross hairs, with winds of over 70 MPH expected.
Much more dangerous in our area than the winds are the expected heavy flooding (one forecast I heard was for a foot of rain in the area on Thursday) and the potential for sustained, widespread power outages, perhaps lasting for days.
Sylvia and I feel we are relatively safe in the area where we live and do intend to ride out the storm. We have prepared as best we can; our hiking equipment may be pressed into use as ’emergency gear.’ The entire county has already basically run out of bottled water, but we have some stashed away.
If you live near the Carolina or Virginia Coast, you should probably already be in the process of evacuation. If not you may be risking your life.
We’ll try to stay with everybody through the storm and provide updates as we can…as long as we have power and it is safe to do so.
Oh…and by the way, it’s pouring rain out right now. 🙁
Those who venture into the outdoors know…always take the weather seriously.