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Hurricane Florence Friday Live Updates: 'Catastrophic' Flooding Expected, Outages

Hurricane Florence is weakening as it moves inland, according to the National Hurricane Center. 'Torrential' rains are expected to continue.

(TNS) - Here are live updates from the Grand Strand as Hurricane Florence brings wind, rainfall and possibilities of major flooding.

1 p.m.

Hurricane Florence is weakening as it moves inland, according to the National Hurricane Center. “Torrential” rains are expected to continue.

The eye of the storm has continued to move slowly toward the North Carolina and South Carolina border.

Florence is now 35 miles from Myrtle Beach, the NHS reports. At a Category 1, the hurricane is moving at 6 mph.

Maximum sustained winds have decreased to 75 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.

11 a.m.

Hurricane Florence is now 55 miles away from Myrtle Beach, according to an update from the National Hurricane Service. The storm remains at a Category 1, moving 3 mph.

Hurricane-force winds extend 70 miles outward, the NHS reports.

The latest on power outages across the area.

Horry County Sheriff Chief Deputy Tom Fox just said to expect flood waters to be two feet higher than Matthew. Authorities are urging people to leave and seek higher grounds.

The City of Myrtle Beach has implemented a curfew that goes in effect from 7 p.m. tonight to 7 a.m. Saturday.

North Myrtle Beach officials have halted emergency responses until storm conditions allow for personnel to respond safely.

8:30 a.m.

Hurricane Florence just made landfall at Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, according to the National Weather Service in Wilmington. A Category 1, Florence is moving about 6 mph.

The Myrtle Beach area will see consistent rainfall later this morning, said Steve Pfaff with the National Weather Service in Wilmington.

“It’s going down the tubes in the next few hours,” Pfaff said during an 8:30 a.m. call.

Florence is moving southwest and expected to travel across Brunswick and Horry counties, Pfaff said. The eye of the storm is about 15 miles wide, he said. As the hurricane moves west, we will see storm surges. There is a tornado threat from Murrells Inlet going north along the Grand Strand, Pfaff said.

“This is a large hurricane,” Pfaff said.

The storm is about 65 miles from Myrtle Beach, the National Hurricane Center reports.

Life-threatening storm surges and hurricane-force winds continue, according to the NHS. A flash flood warning has been issued for Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach and Little River until 8:30 p.m. today.

The latest on power outages across the area.

The Waccamaw River in Conway could reach record-level flooding with predictions of more than 23 feet, the NWS in Wilmington reported.

7 a.m.

At sunrise along Ocean Boulevard’s most popular stretch, traffic lights swung and trees bent as wind gusts blew towards the ocean.

There were no locals in the area, which was populated with police and news media. A few tree branches fell into roads as a couple of store awning started to show tares.

Wind picked up sand grains off the beach and stung when they hit skin.

Waves remained light in the low tide as Hurricane Florence made its approach on the area.

Throughout the morning, winds grew stronger as more people ventured one last time before the worst of the storm.

The tide is not high and waves are small.

Hurricane Florence, a Category 1, is still moving at 6 mph with sustained winds at 92 mph.

The eye of the storm is about to make landfall near Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina.


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