Hurricane Florence is a very popular topic at this point in time. Florence started as a Category 4 hurricane and as of last Thursday, it turned into a Category 2. Don’t take too big of a sigh of relief though; it still caused major damage to large areas of the country.

It was estimated that the hurricane affected over 10 million people in the southeastern United States. For days leading up to the storm, people in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia prepared for and evacuated from the huge storm that was heading their way. The National Hurricane Center had issued a storm surge advisory for areas such as the southern coast of South Carolina, all the way to the borders of Virginia and North Carolina.

Kate Risdon’s aunt, Karen Abbott, is just one of the many who was affected by Florence. Karen lives in Winston Salem, North Carolina and stocked up on food, water, and batteries for flashlights. She made sure the house was entirely secure on the outside for Florence’s impact. Although she is not on the coast, Winston Salem lost power and had lots of rainfall. When Kate spoke to her aunt and asked about the “before” of this hurricane, Karen simply responded by saying, “Now we just wait.” The Carolinas got the worst of this storm early Friday morning.

Image courtesy of NOAA Satellites.