Hurricane Florence Prompts Tornado Watch In 15 Counties

WILMINGTON, NC — Hurricane Florence has begun lashing the North Carolina coastline and numerous counties could see tornadoes. Emergency management officials with the state Department of Public Safety' said a tornado watch is in effect until 9 p.m. Thursday for 15 eastern North Carolina counties.

Among the cities watching for possible twisters: Beaufort, Greenville, Jacksonville, Kitty Hawk, LeJuene, Nags Head, New Bern and Ocracoke.

• Beaufort County
• Carteret County
• Craven County
• Dare County
• Duplin County
• Greene County
• Hyde County
• Jones County
• Lenoir County
• Martin County
• Onslow County
• Pamlico County
• Pitt County
• Tyrrell County
• Washington County

The alert comes as wind speeds slowed down Thursday for the monster storm. Florence was downgraded to a Category 2 storm overnight with sustained winds of 110 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. By 8 a.m., the storm was about 170 miles east-southeast of Wilmington, and about 220 miles east of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

(2/2) - A Tornado Watch is currently in effect for 15 Coastal counties until 9PM tonight.
- A Tornado Warning has been issued for Hyde, Beaufort, and Pamlico Counties. We are likely to see these continue to be issued throughout the day today. #ncwx #FlorenceNC
— NC Emergency Managem (@NCEmergency) September 13, 2018

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