The official student news site of Athens Drive High School

ATHENS ORACLE

The official student news site of Athens Drive High School

ATHENS ORACLE

The official student news site of Athens Drive High School

ATHENS ORACLE

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Hurricane Florence’s devastating impact

Photos by Air National Guard
Members of the 106th Rescue Squadron, 106th Rescue Wing, New York Air National Guard, drop from an HC-130J Combat King II aircraft during a rescue mission during Hurricane Florence, Sept. 17, 2018.(U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Kyle Hagan)

According to the Weather Channel, Hurricane Florence remained a category five hurricane with high winds and was barreling towards the Carolinas at an alarming rate. South Carolina’s Governor Henry McMaster, ordered a mandatory evacuation for the coast of South Carolina.

“We do not want to risk any one South Carolina life in this hurricane,” McMaster pointed out in his speech Sep. 10, 2018.

State officials in Virginia and the Carolinas had ordered around 1.5 million people to evacuate. One of those people was MaryAnn Barbee. She lives along the coast and had to evacuate inland.

“We boarded up our windows with plywood and screws,” Barbee said. “This is what you do when you live at the beach.”

Florence struck the U.S east coast Sep. 13, 2018. Massive rainfall and flooding was expected in the target areas of the U.S.

“This hurricane is going to be a big one,” doctoral student Sam Lillo had said as the storm grew larger and not just in size, but in category as well.

Citizens had already started packing and collecting essential supplies for the hurricane. Central News Network (CNN) had reported that grocery stores began selling out of bread, water and milk. CNN also concluded that supply stores such as Home Depot and Lowes had begun selling out of batteries, plywood, flashlights, propane, five-gallon gas canisters and generators as early as Sun. Sep. 9, 2018.

“ I knew we were going to be fine, but I charged my phone and MacBook anyways, I didn’t want to risk it,” said Zachary Milton, freshman.

At least 35 people died during the hurricane, 25 in North Carolina, six in South Carolina and one in Virginia. The hurricane took a hard left turn and passed Raleigh, N.C. The hurricane had caused mostly flooding in low places such as Chatham county and Sampson county. Many citizens around the world are talking about the Raleigh “forcefield.” The Raleigh “forcefield” is a term given after the hurricane hit N.C. The term points out how the storm completely went a full 280° around Raleigh and its neighboring cities. As of Sept. 18, over 500,000 businesses still do not have power.

The average hurricane season has about three to six hurricanes. The U.S has documented over 100 hurricanes since 1850. As South Carolina, Virginia and North Carolina recover from Hurricane Florence, They hope that Hurricane Florence will be the last in the hurricane season of 2018.

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