The Bulletin

Governor issues evacuation order in advance of Hurricane Florence

By: Robert Zullo - September 10, 2018 8:48 pm

Hurricane Florence is growing in size and strength as it moves toward a projected North Carolina landfall later this week. That could mean coastal flooding, high winds and heavy rains for Virginia as well. (National Hurricane Center)

Gov. Ralph Northam issued a mandatory evacuation order for low-lying areas of Hampton Roads and the Eastern Shore Monday night. The order is effective Tuesday.

“Hurricane Florence has the potential to cause catastrophic flooding, especially in our coastal areas,” Northam said in a statement. “This evacuation is for the safety of thousands of Virginians living in that zone. But the effects of this storm will be felt statewide, and I encourage everyone in Virginia to prepare now.”

The order encompasses “Coastal Zone A,” which includes much of Hampton Roads and the Eastern Shore as well as parts of the Middle and Virginia Peninsulas and the Northern Neck. Check your zone here.

A bulletin from the National Hurricane Center says Florence is growing in size and strength as it heads toward a projected landfall Thursday in southeastern North Carolina.

“Hurricane Florence has rapidly intensified into a Category 4 major hurricane south-southeast of Bermuda and is likely to lash the U.S. East Coast later this week with life-threatening storm surge, destructive winds and massive inland rainfall flooding in one of the strongest strikes on record for this part of the East Coast,” The Weather Channel reported.

Hurricane Florence is growing in size and strength as it moves toward a projected North Carolina landfall later this week. That could mean coastal flooding, high winds and heavy rains for Virginia as well. (National Hurricane Center)

Northam has also declared a state of emergency for Virginia, to begin preparation of state assets, and has requested an advance federal emergency declaration to ensure the availability of federal resources to aid in storm response.

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Robert Zullo

Robert spent 13 years as a reporter and editor at weekly and daily newspapers before becoming editor of the Virginia Mercury in 2018. He was a staff writer and managing editor at Worrall Community Newspapers in Union, N.J., before spending five years in south Louisiana covering hurricanes, oil spills and Good Friday crawfish boils as a reporter and city editor for the The Courier and the Daily Comet newspapers in Houma and Thibodaux. He covered Richmond city hall for the Richmond Times-Dispatch from 2012 to 2013 and worked as a general assignment and city hall reporter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from 2013 to 2016. He returned to Richmond in 2016 to cover energy, environment and transportation for the Richmond Times-Dispatch. He grew up in Miami, Fla., and central New Jersey. A former waiter, armored car guard and appliance deliveryman, he is a graduate of the College of William and Mary. Contact him at [email protected]