translated from Spanish: Winds and rain of Hurricane Florence begin to whip USA

the outer bands of wind and rain of Hurricane Florence began lashing the coasts of the Carolinas, bending trees and throwing water marina to the streets of the islands of North Carolina, on Thursday while the huge storm approaches with winds of 160 kilometers per hour and rainfall that could extend over the weekend. Meteorologists said conditions only will become more lethal after a storm go to ground in the early hours of Friday near the border between North Carolina and Carolina southern and slow progress. The storm surges could cover the coast with more than 3 meters of water, and constant rainfall could leave more than one meter of rain, causing severe flooding. The maximum sustained winds of the storm fell from a peak of 225 kilometers per hour a few days to 155 km/h for half tomorrow. Now is a hurricane of category 2 on the scale Saffir-Simpson.Pero the Governor of North Carolina, Roy Cooper, said: “not to relax or become blasé. Be alert. This is a powerful storm which can cause deaths. Today the threat becomes reality.” Meteorologists pointed out that due to size and slow storm, may cause epic damage similar to which Harvey suffered Houston Hurricane just over one year ago, with floods that destroyed homes and businesses, and they scattered debris industrial.” The issue really is the total size of the storm”, said Ken Graham, director of the National Hurricane Center. “Between big and slow is one storm, the greater the threat and impact.” And that is what we have.” Around 8 p.m., the center of Florence was located 135 kilometers southeast of Wilmington, but his speed was reduced to 7 km/h. Hurricane force winds extend 130 kilometers from its vortex, and tropical storm force winds are 315 kilometers. The hurricane is seen as an important test for the Federal Agency for the management of emergency (FEMA for its initials in English), which was strongly criticized after the lack of preparation and slow response after the passage of Hurricane Maria by Puerto Rico the year past. While Florence was approaching, President Donald Trump Tweet that the FEMA emergency teams were “ready and supplied” and rejected the official figure of almost 3,000 people were killed in Puerto Rico because of Mary, affirming that the number is a plot Democrat to make him look bad. The closing of schools and businesses spread to Georgia and airlines have canceled about 1,200 flights so far, while almost all the coastal towns of the Carolinas were evacuated.

Original source in Spanish