ORLANDO, Fla. —  Tropical Storm Florence continues to crawl across the Carolinas, where significant flooding is occurring across eastern sections of North Carolina.

Florence

Florence’s center is located 55 miles southwest of Florence, South Carolina, and 40 miles east-southeast of Columbia, South Carolina.

This will be a long duration event of flooding rain, storm surge and very strong winds over a widespread area. Already rainfall amounts of 24-30” have been reported in eastern North Carolina, with more rain likely.

A Flash Flood Emergency was issued for portions of eastern North Carolina Friday with already some locations exceeding 30” of rain.

Florence’s maximum sustained winds are now down to 40 mph. The weakening trend will continue tonight, and the system will likely become a tropical depression early Sunday.

Florence is nearly stationary. It is only moving to the west at 3 mph. Tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 160 miles. The minimum central pressure is 998 mb.

Swells generated by Florence have been impacting the southeastern US, including Florida, and will continue to do so into the weekend.  While wave heights continue to drop, a high risk of rip currents will prevail.

The following watches and warnings continue:

Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for

-  South Santee River South Carolina to Surf City North Carolina

As the storm continues inland, Florence is projected slowly track west-northwest across the Carolinas, where it will continue to pose a significant flood threat due to the incredible amount of rainfall forecasted. Some areas will likely exceed 30 to 40 inches of rain from the storm.

Isaac

Elsewhere in the tropics, the remnants of Isaac will continue to produce gusty winds and occasionally heavy rain while moving westward across the central and western Caribbean during the next few days. 

The remnants of Isaac are expected to produce rainfall of 2-4 inches with isolated higher totals in the Dominican Republic, southern Haiti and Jamaica. The system could reorganize over the next couple of days, but it has a low chance for redevelopment.

Helene

Helene remains a tropical storm, throwing wind and rain across portions of the Azores. Helene is roughly 65 miles of Flores Island in the western Azores. 

This storm will not threaten the United States, but a Tropical Storm Warning continues for all of the Azores islands. The Azores will continue to tropical storm conditions on Sunday.

Joyce

Tropical Storm Joyce remains out to sea in the north central Atlantic, 695 miles west-southwest of the Azores.   With winds of 40 mph, this storm will stay over open waters and will become post-tropical by early next week.

Hurricane season runs through Nov. 30.