President Trump said Tuesday his administration is “sparing no expense” to prepare several East Coast states for Hurricane Florence, which is expected to make landfall as a category 4 storm as early as Thursday.
“The safety of the American people is my absolute highest priority. We are sparing no expense,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, adding that the Federal Emergency Management Agency, along with state and local governments, are “totally prepared and ready.”
Trump and FEMA administrator Brock Long both warned residents living in the hurricane’s anticipated path to follow orders and “get out” before the storm hits Virginia and the Carolinas later this week. More than 1.5 million people have already been ordered to evacuate areas where Florence is expected to cause prolonged power outages, flooding, and infrastructure damage.
[Also read: Pat Robertson asks evangelicals to pray for ‘shield of protection’ as Hurricane Florence nears]
“The places that are in the way… they haven’t seen anything like what’s coming at us in 25, 35 years. Maybe ever,” Trump said, describing the incoming hurricane as “tremendously big and tremendously wet.”
“It could well be very similar to Texas in the sense that it’s tremendous amounts of water,” he continued, referring to Hurricane Harvey, which devastated parts of Houston last August.
Long said the potentially historic storm is “setting up to be a devastating event,” noting that experts tracking Hurricane Florence do not expect any significant changes to its path in the next 24 to 48 hours.
“I think the expectation needs to be set with the citizens in those areas: get out if you’ve been warned. The power is going to be out for weeks, you’re going to be displaced and there will be flooding,” Long said, following a briefing with Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.
North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia have all declared states of emergency or preparedness ahead of Florence’s arrival. The storm could cause winds as high as 140 mph when it makes landfall late Thursday or early Friday.
