CHARLESTON: Hur­ric­a­­ne Florence would deliver a “direct hit” to the US East Coast, emergency officials warned on Tuesday, urging residents to heed evacuation orders and seek shelter from the potentially catastrophic storm.

More than one million people in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia have been told to flee their homes as the hurricane churns across the Atlantic Ocean towards the coast.

The Miami-based National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said that Florence remained a Category 4 hurricane as of 11am packing deadly winds of 130 miles per hour (215 kilometres per hour).

“This storm is not going to be a glancing blow,” said Jeff Byard, associate administrator for response and recovery at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

“This storm is going to be a direct hit,” Byard told a press conference in Washington, warning of the potential for massive damage, flooding, power outages and loss of life.

Published in Dawn, September 12th, 2018