Hurricane Florence has been categorized as a category 1 storm. The storm is expected to push through the Carolina’s this weekend. It is the first major hurricane of the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season. Hurricane Florence had begun as a tropical wave that emerged off of a coast in the western part of Africa on August 30, 2018. On August 31, the wave had turned into a tropical cyclone after passing through Cape Verde. It acquired tropical storm strength on September 1 and became stronger in the open ocean.

On September 4-5, the waves intensified making Florence become a category 4 hurricane according to the Saffir-Simpson scale with estimated wins sustaining 130 mph ( 215 km/h ). After the storm had been ripped apart from environmental conditions downgrading the storm to a tropical storm, currents led to a turn west for a more suitable environment. The storm regained hurricane strength on September 9, and major hurricane status on September 10. At 4:00 UCT on September 10, Florence became a category 4 hurricane again reaching a high of 140 mph for winds and a central pressure of nearly 1000 mbar. 

The storm recently has a location of about 40 miles west of Columbia, South Carolina and 215 miles southwest of Raleigh, North Carolina. The arrival of Florence has sparked many declarations of states of emergencies and many evacuation orders and closures. 15 people have died due to storm-related causes, 10 in North Carolina and 5 in South Carolina.

You can help with relief funds by texting FLORENCE to 20222. You can also donate to The Red Cross by calling 1-800-RED-CROSS or by texting RED CROSS to 90999 which would make a 10$ donation, Google had announced that it would be matching every $1 million dollar donation that The Red Cross receives.