Pray as the East Coast Braces for Hurricane Florence

Currently packing Category 4 sustained winds of 130 mph, a potentially devastating Hurricane Florence is expected to make landfall Friday morning or later. The National Weather Service in Wilmington, North Carolina, stated it “will likely be the storm of a lifetime for portions of the Carolina coast.”
The slow-moving Florence has recently been tracking in a more southerly direction. It is a massive storm that could stall—increasing rain and storm surge levels—and, in any case, is likely to affect tens of millions of people, including those far from the coast. Forecast models extend the hurricane’s impact as far as from Virginia to Alabama.
“This is not going to be a glancing blow,” FEMA’s Jeff Byard said, as widely reported on Wednesday. “This is going to be a Mike Tyson punch to the Carolina Coast.

More than 1 million people face mandatory evacuation in the face of the storm. The governors in both Carolinas, Virginia, and Maryland have declared states of emergency. President Donald Trump has issued federal emergency declarations for both North and South Carolina.
Hurricane warnings and watches currently extend from Edisto Beach, South Carolina, to the North Carolina-Virginia border. In addition to destructive winds and storm surge—up to 12 feet—on the coast, inland flooding is a major danger. Isolated areas may receive more than three feet of rain through the weekend.
“Life-threatening freshwater flooding is likely from a prolonged and exceptionally heavy rainfall event,” the National Weather Service advised.
If Florence makes landfall in the Carolinas or Virginia as a Category 4 storm, it would be the strongest storm to blast the region since Hurricane Hugo in 1989.
Please pray as this terrible storm bears down on the Eastern Seaboard. Pray for safety for residents and for our preparations to respond.