Trump warns Georgia: ‘Be prepared’ for Hurricane Florence

ATLANTIC OCEAN - SEPTEMBER 10:  In this NASA handout image taken by Astronaut Ricky Arnold, Hurricane Florence gains strength in the Atlantic Ocean as it moves west, seen from the International Space Station on September 10, 2018. Weather predictions say the storm will likely hit the U.S. East Coast as early as Thursday, September 13 bringing massive winds and rain.  (Photo by NASA via Getty Images)

Credit: NASA

Credit: NASA

ATLANTIC OCEAN - SEPTEMBER 10: In this NASA handout image taken by Astronaut Ricky Arnold, Hurricane Florence gains strength in the Atlantic Ocean as it moves west, seen from the International Space Station on September 10, 2018. Weather predictions say the storm will likely hit the U.S. East Coast as early as Thursday, September 13 bringing massive winds and rain. (Photo by NASA via Getty Images)

President Donald Trump warned Georgians to “be ready, be prepared” for Hurricane Florence as the latest projections show the Category 4 storm shifting slightly to the south.

The president’s tweet on Wednesday came as the National Hurricane Center’s latest update showed the center of the storm is expected to hit parts of South Carolina and North Carolina as early as Thursday and as late as Sunday.

It’s too early to tell whether it will hit Georgia, but Trump tweeted that the storm “may now be dipping a bit south and hitting a portion” of the state.

More than 1 million people have already been ordered to evacuate parts of coastal South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. And those states, along with Maryland, have all declared states of emergency.

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal’s office is closely monitoring the storm and coordinating with coastal communities. As the storm’s path changes, Deal’s office said it would wait on further updates to decide whether to declare a state of emergency and take other precautions.

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