A powerful tropical storm has strengthened in the eastern United States and is expected to make landfall there in the coming hours. There is therefore great concern in North Carolina and Virginia.
Early Saturday morning (local time), “Ophelia” reached sustained winds of more than 70 miles per hour, according to the U.S. Hurricane Center NHC. The storm was just below the hurricane threshold of 70 miles per hour.
Hurricane expected
The storm will reach the North Carolina coast within a few hours, it said. Hurricane conditions are expected there. The NHC warned of storm surges that could lead to “life-threatening” flooding.
A state of emergency is declared
In the neighboring state of Virginia, where the hurricane center says the storm will arrive later on Saturday, Governor Glenn Youngkin has declared a state of emergency. He asked Virginians to keep an eye on weather forecasts and have their emergency gear ready, Youngkin wrote on Twitter (X).
The Atlantic Ocean hurricane season starts on June 1 and ends on November 30. Hurricanes often grow stronger as they move over the sea. Over land they quickly lose their strength because there is no supply of warm, moist air masses. Increasing global warming increases the risk of severe storms.
Source: Krone
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