<br /> <p>The southern coast of North Carolina saw calm waters and blue skies on the morning of September 12, giving little indication of the imminent arrival of Hurricane Florence, a Category 4 storm forecasted to make landfall the following morning.</p><p>This footage was shot at the town of Carolina Beach, Kure Beach, and Fort Fisher on Pleasure Island, a barrier island about 40 miles northeast of the state border with South Carolina. It was shared by Carolina Beach Today, a local news site that described the footage as showing the “calm before the storm.”</p><p>Carolina Beach is shown to be near-deserted, with windows boarded up to protect against the storm. The boarding on one building was spray-painted to read, “FLORENCE 2018.”</p><p>The National Weather Service</a> issued strong warnings to residents of the Carolinas and mid-Atlantic states, saying the hurricane would be the “storm of a lifetime,”</a> bringing damaging winds, life-threatening storm surges, and “catastrophic flooding.”</p><p>President Donald Trump declared states of emergency in North Carolina</a>, South Carolina</a>, and Virginia</a>, and evacuation orders were issued to around 1.7 million residents across the three states. Credit: Carolina Beach Today via Storyful</p><br />
