More than 10 million people live in areas with warnings or watches from hurricane or tropical storm Florence, the National Weather Service said Wednesday.
The storm dropped from a category 4 to 3 over the course of the day but its wind fields are expanding at 190 kph. The rise in seawater could now reach 4 meters inland.
"Although slow weakening is expected to begin by late Thursday, Florence is forecast to be an extremely dangerous major hurricane when it nears the US coast late Thursday and Friday," forecasters at the Hurricane Center said.
President Donald Trump spoke with Senators from South Carolina and North Carolina on separate phone calls and offered full support of the federal government, according to a statement from the White House press office.
The president highlighted that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is "here to help with anything their respective states may need for Hurricane Florence," the statement said.
Trump has been monitoring all of the storm activity and has received consistent updates throughout the day in preparation of Florence's landfall, it said.