Hurricane Florence officially makes landfall near Wrightsville Beach

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Hurricane Florence slammed into southeastern North Carolina with a slow-moving fury.

The National Hurricane Center says the storm officially made landfall around Wrightsville Beach at 7:15 a.m. as a Category 1 hurricane.

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Maximum sustained winds were estimated to be 90 mph, and the central pressure was estimated to be 958 mb based on reports from the NOAA NOS observing station at Johnny Mercer Pier in Wrightsville Beach.

The NWS says a wind gust of 105 mph was recorded at Wilmington International Airport. That’s the second highest wind speed ever recorded in Wilmington. It is exceeded only by 135 mph recorded during Hurricane Helene on Sept. 27, 1958.

Florence is expected to move slowly through the Cape Fear and into South Carolina dumping potentially record-setting amounts of rain, which could cause catastrophic flooding.