Tropical Storm Florence is now a hurricane

EAST COAST (NEWS 1130) – The gradual wind-down of summer means that storm season is ramping up across the seas for fall, starting with Tropical Storm Florence in the Atlantic.

Forecasters say Tropical Storm Florence has turned into a hurricane and is swirling toward the East Coast for what could be a direct hit toward the end of the week.

The storm’s sustained winds reached 75 mph (121 kph), just over the threshold for a hurricane, on Sunday morning as it was swirling across the Atlantic, about 750 miles (1,210 kilometres) southeast of Bermuda. It was moving west at 6 mph.

The National Hurricane Center says it is still too early to predict the hurricane’s exact path, but a huge coastal area from northern Florida to North Carolina should prepare for a major hit.

South Carolina’s governor says residents should count on “a lot of wind and a lot of rain” from Hurricane Florence this week.

Gov. Henry McMaster told a news conference Sunday that people should “pretend, assume, presume that a major hurricane is going to hit right smack dab in the middle of South Carolina and is going to go way inshore.”

The National Hurricane Center says Florence could make landfall by Friday in the Southeast U.S. and that residents from South Carolina to the mid-Atlantic need to get ready.

In South Carolina, Charleston city officials were offering sandbags for residents to fill. Meanwhile, Myrtle Beach Mayor Brenda Bethune urged residents to secure their homes, but said it’s too early to know if evacuations will be ordered.

Florence is currently gaining power over the ocean and is expected to turn into a proper hurricane either later today or by Monday, and hit the U.S. east coast before the weekend. That’s prompted governors in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina to declare states of emergency over the past few days.

The hurricane is forecast to move between Bermuda and the Bahamas on Tuesday and Wednesday before approaching the southeastern U.S. coast on Thursday. ABC’s meteorologist Rob Marciano says that Florence will pick up more energy as it powers west across the Caribbean.

“This is thing was already a category 4 at one point, likely to go back to that as it gets into these warm waters by Wednesday and Thursday, taking it to the Carolinas,” Marciano says.

More storms on deck in the coming week

Further east, Tropical Storm Helene is moving towards the western Coast of Africa, and is expected to bring heavy rains to the Cape Verde archipelago later today. Forecasters say those rains could cause flash-flooding.

And Tropical Storm Isaac is expected to become a Hurricane by tomorrow. Forecasters are worried it could move towards the Caribbean and follow up with Florence.

— with files from The Associated Press