- Hurricane Expo held at the Leland Town Cultural Arts Center to prepare the public for another active season
- Flash flood watch expires at midnight, but additional rain possible overnight
- Flash flood watch remains in effect through Friday evening
- 'We always prepare': NC emergency director confident in hurricane readiness before retirement
- Flash flood watch issued as another rainy evening possible
Sign explodes from hurricane winds
JACKSONVILLE, N.C. – A neon sign was no match for Hurricane strength winds.
Video shows the sign torn apart as Hurricane Florence made landfall in Jacksonville, North Carolina Friday morning.
The storm was downgraded to a category one Thursday evening, but is still packing winds of at least 85 miles per hour.
At 11 a.m., Florence was centered about 20 miles (30 kilometers) southwest of Wilmington, North Carolina, and about 55 miles (90 kilometers) east-northeast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It was crawling west-southwest at 3 mph (6kph), lifting huge amounts of ocean moisture and dumping it far from the coast.
Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 70 miles (110 km) from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 195 miles (315 km).