Hurricane Florence made landfall in North Carolina early Friday morning, with the National Hurricane Center saying the eye of the Category 1 hurricane moved onshore at around 6:15 CENTRAL time.  As of 7:00am the eye of Florence was located 10 miles south of Wilmington North Carolina and was moving west at six mph.

A crew of ten with the Cherokee Electric Co-op left out Friday morning on their way to offer assistance in Newport, North Carolina which is located in Carteret County.  The area – along with many others has suffered major damage, leaving thousands without power.  That crew will be deployed for an extended period of time during recovery efforts.

The National Weather Service said that a peak wind gust of 105 mph was measured at the Wilmington International Airport – which is higher than gusts from Hurricane Fran in 1996 and Hurricane Floyd in 1999.  A buoy 50 miles east of the center of Florence’s eye reported a wind gust to 112 mph.

The hurricane center expects the storm to turn west, and track slowly inland today – before turning more to the west/southwest by tonight and Saturday.

That storm surge could possibly reach between seven and eleven feet along portions of the North Carolina coasts with 20 to 30 inches of rain possible – raising the risk of significant inland flooding.