The outer bands of Hurricane Florence have begun lashing the U.S. coastal state of North Carolina with heavy winds and rain.<br />On the other side of the globe, another potentially devastating typhoon is inching closer to the Philippines.<br />For more on this and other news around the world let's turn to our Ro Aram….<br />Aram… what's the latest?<br /><br /> Well Mark…If we start with Hurricane Florence….it has been downgraded to a Category 2 storm, but officials are warning that it remains very dangerous.<br /> Although winds have weakened slightly, they are still clocking a powerful 165 kilometers per hour. <br />Heavy rain has also started to drench the coast of North Carolina and roads have already flooded. <br />The worst is yet to be seen as the hurricane is expected to hover over the Carolinas for days, whipping hurricane-force winds and dumping relentless rain. <br />The eye of the storm is forecast to make landfall on Friday afternoon, local time.<br />About a million people across three states have been ordered to evacuate.<br />Thousands of residents have fled further inland, while others are staying in emergency shelters.<br /> Meanwhile, thousands of people have also begun fleeing coastal areas of the Philippines as a super typhoon heads towards the north of the country.<br />Typhoon Mangkhut is due to make landfall on Luzon Island by Saturday and was packing winds of 285 kilometers per hour.<br />That is the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane and much stronger than Hurricane Florence.<br />Mangkhut is being described as the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines this year. <br />It has already torn through the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam, with some parts still out of power on Thursday.<br />Southern parts of China, including Hong Kong are also bracing the typhoon's arrival later in the weekend. <br />
