WILMINGTON, N.C. — Hurricane Florence slammed ashore on North Carolina's coast early Friday, ripping apart roofs with extreme winds and threatening massive storm surges as officials reported dozens of water rescues from cars and homes.
The eye of the storm made landfall near Wrightsville Beach, northeast of Wilmington, at 7:15 a.m. ET, the National Hurricane Center said.
Here's the latest on Hurricane Florence:
- As of 10 a.m. ET Friday, Florence was 20 miles southwest of Wilmington, North Carolina, and 55 miles east of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and moving west at around 6 mph.
- There were more than 485,000 power outages as of Friday morning in North Carolina, according to the state department of public safety.
- New Bern, north of Wilmington, has more than 150 people requiring rescue Friday morning.
- Wind gusts at Wilmington International Airport reached 105 mph in the storm's eyewall, the highest wind gust during a hurricane since 1958.
- The Red Cross said more than 1,600 people spent Thursday night in 36 Red Cross and community shelters in the Carolinas.
The Category 1 storm was downgraded late Thursday, but continued to carry maximum sustained winds of 85 mph and crawled along at just 6 mph. Forecasters warned of "catastrophic" freshwater flooding along the Carolinas and the potential for up to 40 inches of rain in some parts.
More than 485,000 customers were without power Friday morning, according to emergency management officials, as social media users shared videos of snapped trees and water rushing onto coastal streets like rivers.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said there were no immediate reports of deaths, but cautioned the flooding and rising waters could inundate low-lying communities for days.
"This is an uninvited brute that just won't leave," Cooper said on "Today."
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