Hurricane Ian’s change of track means the North Carolina coast could see a deluge, with up to 10 inches of rain in some places, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The impact of Hurricane Ian, strengthened to category 4, was in Fort Myers around 2: 00 pm, but winds over 125 miles per hour are soon spreading across the rest of the Florida coastline.
Ian will likely cross Florida and end up back in the ocean, where it will then likely make landfall again as a degraded tropical storm near the line between Georgia and South Carolina on Friday night, forecasters say.
Ian’s remains are forecast to move inland through South Carolina into central North Carolina.
“This will spread heavy rain north across the Carolinas, especially on Friday. Flooding and even an isolated tornado is possible,” says the National Weather Service.
“High tides should produce coastal flooding along the lower Cape Fear River from Wilmington south through the end of the week as Ian moves from Florida.”
5 to 8 inches of rain is likely across much of the North Carolina coast, and the stretch from Wilmington to Cape Lookout National Seashore could see 28 inches, experts say.
The rain will begin Thursday night and continue through Friday, reports the National Weather Service.
Localized flooding from rain may worsen on Friday and possibly Friday night by coastal storm surge “pushed toward the coast by the force of the wind,” forecasters say.
Winds will also pick up along the North Carolina coast on Thursday, with gusts greater than 30 mph through Thursday night, authorities say.
Hurricane Ian’s winds strengthened from 140 mph to 155 mph overnight Wednesday, forecasters said in an update. That puts the storm just 2 mph short of being a Category 5 hurricane (157 mph or more).
Also read:
· Hurricane Ian makes landfall in Florida and starting to wreak havoc
· Hurricane Ian: What the hurricane categories mean and what danger they pose
· Hurricane Ian: These are the US states where the most hurricanes are recorded