Boeing Stops Its Plant in South Carolina as Hurricane Florence Poised to Hit US

WASHINGTON, September 12 (Sputnik) - Hurricane Florence may likely become one of the strongest seen in decades, US President Donald Trump said Tuesday at the White House.

"This is going to be a storm that is going to be a very large one, far larger than we have seen in perhaps decades," Trump said on Tuesday.

Florence is expected to make landfall somewhere along the southeastern United States, likely near the border between South and North Carolina on early Friday. Those and several other US states such as Maryland and Virginia — as well as Washington, DC — declared state of emergency ahead of the hurricane landfall.

Starting to see a lot of evacuation traffic on the northbound I-95 now. We are just north of Rocky Mount. @weathernetwork @jwhittalTWN #Florence pic.twitter.com/iJeuXcHERY

— Mark Robinson (@StormhunterTWN) 11 сентября 2018 г.

Trump assured Americans that his administration is ready to face the disaster. "We are totally prepared. We are ready as anybody has ever been," he said. Trump also added that US power companies are taking all the necessary precautions to prevent widespread outages.

Meanwhile, Boeing has suspended all operations at its plant in the US state of South Carolina as Hurricane Florence threatens the region, company spokesperson Paul Bergman told Sputnik.

"Due to possible impacts from Hurricane Florence, an evacuation order has been issued for several coastal South Carolina, including Charleston, Dorchester and Berkeley counties, beginning at noon Tuesday, September 11," Bergman said on Tuesday. "In line with that order, Boeing has suspended operations at Boeing South Carolina so our teammates can properly evacuate."

Bergman added that operations will resume when it is safe to do so, but noted that the company is relocating some 787 aircraft from Charleston to their facility in Everett, Washington.

Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) director Brock Long warned that Hurricane Florence is expected to make landfall as a Category 4 hurricane and may have devastating impact in both Carolinas as well as in central parts of the state of Virginia.

READ MORE: Cat 4 On Lock: Heavy Rain, Surf and Wind as Florence Heads to US East Coast

In my 35 years forecasting the weather on TV, I have NEVER seen so much activity in the tropics all at the same time. #Florence #Helene #Isaac #Olivia #Paul pic.twitter.com/gHMcoHbU2s

— Tim Heller ABC13 (@HellerWeather) 11 сентября 2018 г.

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