FLORENCE, SC (WBTW) – The Florence County Emergency Management Department held a second briefing on Hurricane Florence on Tuesday afternoon to give updates on the anticipated impacts of Hurricane Florence.
The department’s director, Dusty Owens, told a room full of first responders that they should prepare for “tropical storm” impacts from Hurricane Florence. He said, while the storm is powerful, it isn’t expected to hit Florence County with category four strength.
“I am not telling you we have nothing to worry about. But what is important for the citizens to understand, they may be of the opinion that we’re going to have this massive category three or four storm crashing down on Florence county. Based on this forecast track from the national weather service, that’s not the case,” he said.
The storm is expected to hit on Thursday and last until Friday. Owens said Florence County could get anywhere from two to 10 inches of rain depending on how the storm progresses and could see winds of 39 miles per hour (tropical storm strength) to 74 miles per hour (hurricane force winds). He urged residents to start thinking about cleanup efforts and advised them to expect power outages, flooding and debris.
Owens also released updates to the evacuation shelters. There are four shelters currently open in the county (at Wilson High School, South Florence High School, Lake City High School and Timmonsville Education Center). Hannah-Pamplico Elementary-Middle School was originally on the list but was removed due to a broken water main at the school.
