Hurricane Florence batters North and South Carolina

The outer bands of Hurricane Florence have begun lashing the US East Coast, bringing heavy rains and gusts of almost 100mph that have left up to 200,000 people without power.

More than a million residents of coastal cities in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia have been ordered to evacuate, with thousands taking refuge in emergency shelters overnight.

“The first bands of the storm are upon us but we have days more to go,” said Roy Cooper, the governor of North Carolina, where the storm is forecast to make landfall at noon local time.

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The storm has been downgraded from a category 4 hurricane to category 1, but authorities warn that it remains extremely dangerous and could kill many people.

“Don’t relax, don’t get complacent,” Cooper told Fox News. “Stay on guard. This is a powerful storm that can kill. Today the threat becomes a reality.”

Florence has already sustained winds of 75mph and gusts of up to 99mph, with coastal storm surges reported, according to the latest update from the US National Hurricane Center (NHC).

“With this storm, it’s a (category 1) but the storm surge and the flooding is going to be that of a category 4,” says CNN meteorologist Jennifer Gray.

The main danger will be from the high volume of rainfall, with weather forecasters warning that North Carolina could see eight months worth of rain in just a few days.

“We cannot overstate the threat of catastrophic flooding this storm will bring,” the National Weather Service said.

Meanwhile, experts at the NHC warn that a “life-threatening storm surge” is predicted over parts of North Carolina, and that the threat of freshwater flooding will increase and spread inland.

And Florence is not alone - two more hurricanes are brewing, CNN says.

Hurricane Helene, currently a category 3 storm in the mid-Atlantic, is predicted to veer toward Europe, while tropical storm Isaac is expected to be reclassified as a hurricane as it threatens the western Caribbean this weekend.