Hurricane warning issued for South Carolina
A hurricane warning was issued Thursday for the entire coast of South Carolina as Tropical Storm Ian barrels through Florida and toward the northern part of the U.S.
The warning from the National Hurricane Center describes life-threatening storm conditions along the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia and northeastern Florida through Friday.
Hurricane conditions may hit northeastern Florida and Georgia coasts as early as Thursday evening, and hurricane-force winds are expected on the South Carolina coast starting early Friday.
The "major-to-record" flooding now overwhelming parts of Florida is also expected to keep pushing into southeastern Georgia and eastern South Carolina, according to the hurricane center, with "local significant flooding" in those areas through the end of the week.
The National Hurricane Center lifted the tropical storm warning that was in place for Florida’s Gulf Coast as Ian edges away from the western part of the state, but another tropical storm warning has been extended further northward along the coast of North Carolina.
The governors of both North Carolina and South Carolina have declared a state of emergency as the storm hurtles toward the states.
Devastating hurricane conditions in Florida have left more than 2.6 million Floridians without power after Ian made landfall as a Category 4 storm Wednesday.