Scary Hurricane Florence Facts by the Numbers Breaking down the expected impact of this historic storm.

By Dan Bova

NASA and ESA | Getty Images

Update: Hurricane Florence made landfall as a Category 1 on Friday and is expected to slowly move over parts of the Carolinas all weekend. In a press conference, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper warned, "The storm is going to continue its violent grind across our state for days."

The predictions are not good: massive flooding, destructive winds, life-threatening storm surges and tornadoes are expected as Hurricane Florence heads for the southeast coast of the United States. The storm was downgraded to a category 2 hurricane, but experts are warning -- and pleading with residents in evacuation zones -- to take the situation as deadly serious.

Explaining the difference between a category 3 and category 2 storm, Jeff Byard, an administrator with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, told reporters, "Do you want to get hit with a train or do you want to get hit with a cement truck?"

Here is a breakdown of Hurricane Florence and its expected effects:

  • 400 miles: the storm's diameter, which is approximately the size of four Ohios put together
  • 110 mph: top expected wind speed when it makes landfall
  • 12 mph: speed the storm is moving
  • 40 inches: rainfall expected in hardest hit areas
  • 13 feet: predicted storm surge height
  • 1.7 million: people in evacuation zones
  • 5.25 million: people who live in affected areas
  • 4: number of category 3 of higher hurricanes that have made landfall between Norfolk, Va., and Savannah, Ga., since 1950
  • $10 million: amount recently diverted from FEMA to pay for ICE detention centers and deportation efforts
  • $30 billion: projected damages according to AccuWeather's Joel Myers
  • $15-$20 billion: expected losses covered by insurance
  • 1,000: number of commercial flights canceled (with more expected)

Read about storm and disaster preparedness for business owners here.

Dan Bova

Entrepreneur Staff

VP of Special Projects

Dan Bova is the VP of Special Projects at Entrepreneur.com. He previously worked at Jimmy Kimmel Live, Maxim, and Spy magazine. His latest books for kids include This Day in History, Car and Driver's Trivia ZoneRoad & Track Crew's Big & Fast Cars, The Big Little Book of Awesome Stuff, and Wendell the Werewolf

Read his humor column This Should Be Fun if you want to feel better about yourself.

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