Hurricane Florence weakens slightly as it churns toward the Carolinas, but ‘life-threatening’ storm surges and flooding remain likely

NASA via AP

• Hurricane Florence, weakened to a Category 2 storm late Wednesday night on its way to the shores of the Carolinas, the National Hurricane Center said.
• The National Hurricane Center warned that a “life-threatening storm surge and rainfall” to the Carolinas and mid-Atlantic states remains likely with tropical-storm-force winds arriving Thursday.
• Hurricane and storm surge warnings are in effect from the Santee River in South Carolina to Duck, North Carolina.
• “Disaster is at the doorstep,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper warned.

Hurricane Florence weakened a bit on Wednesday night, prompting forecasters to downgrade it to a Category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds of up to 110 mph. The storm is headed for the Carolinas, bringing a risk of life-threatening storm surge and rainfall.

Hurricane Florence‘s center is expected to make landfall somewhere near the border between North and South Carolina on Saturday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC), though the storm’s intensity will be felt starting Thursday.

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