Police worked to close a bridge into Carolina Beach, North Carolina, on September 12 ahead of Hurricane Florence's landfall.

This video shows officers briefly stopping a vehicle heading towards the bridge as they worked to shut the southbound lanes.

Authorities lowered Florence to a Category 3 hurricane earlier in the day, with wind speeds recording at around 115 mph, but state that the storm is still on a path that will put millions of people at risk and could potentially jump to a Category 5 overnight.

States of emergency have been declared in Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia as residents braced for the worst of the storm.