As Hurricane Florence took aim at the East Coast of the U.S. on Thursday, Sept. 13, 2018, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper stood before news cameras and issued a stern warning in the most sober of terms: "This is a powerful storm that can kill. Now is the time to get yourself to a safe place and stay there." It was, and is, a simple fact: Hurricanes can kill you — in many, many ways.
Hurricane Florence began as a tropical depression on Aug. 3, 2018, near Cape Verde, but eventually topped out as a Category 4 hurricane. According to the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, a Category 4 has maximum sustained winds of 156 miles (251 kilometers) per hour.
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The major hurricane packed sustained winds of 140 mph (225 kph) Wednesday night before they dropped to 105 mph (168 kph)when it was downgraded to a Category 2. But as the storm approached the North Carolina coast, the area covered by hurricane-force winds doubled, meaning more people felt the impacts of the winds that were 74 mph (119 kph) or greater.