Heavy rain and winds lashed Charlotte, North Carolina on Tuesday, September 11, as Hurricane Florence approached the US east coast.

Hundreds of thousands of people were forced to leave their homes after the governors of Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina issued mandatory evacuation orders as the storm neared the US East Coast, ABC Local 10 News reported. Hurricane Florence was forecast to make landfall on Thursday, September 13.

A spokesperson for the National Weather Service tweeted: “We cannot stress this enough: Florence poses a very serious threat to people who live far away from the coast. Heavy and long-lasting rainfall could lead to CATASTROPHIC flooding in inland parts of North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and possibly other states.” Credit: bqgrant via Storyful