This will leave the hurricane drifting slowly out over the Atlantic as a tropical storm where it will churn over the ocean, relentlessly throwing bands of rain into south-east Georgia and the Carolinas on Tuesday and Wednesday, before moving inland over South Carolina on Thursday.
Historic rainfall is likely to lead to areas of catastrophic flooding, exacerbated by a storm surge along the coast which could leave water trapped in river systems, unable to drain into the ocean.
Ahead of the storm making landfall, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for 61 of Florida’s 67 counties. He also said utility crews from in and out of state are ready to help restore power after the storm.
Mr DeSantis is not the only one preparing, residents across the state are readying for the worst.
Spyridon Aibejeris told USA Today repairs on his Keaton Beach home had just wrapped up two weeks ago from Hurricane Idalia, a category three storm that made landfall last summer.
“Man, I’ve done this so many times,” Mr Aibejeris said. “You just go back and see what you’ve got to do.”
“I hope I don’t have to go back to that again,” he added.
