Hurricane Florence: What You Need to Know

Hurricane Florence: What You Need to Know

AUSTRALIAN couple Lea and Andina Foster, owners of popular South Carolina pub Hemingway’s Bistro, have been through plenty of US hurricanes.

They are not too concerned about Hurricane Florence despite its massive size, 193km/hr winds, potential 4m storm surge and 38cm of rainfall.

“We don’t close,” a defiant Lea said on Wednesday local time, ahead of Florence’s arrival. “We always stay open during a hurricane.”

Lea, 75, and Andina, 78, have been together for 58 years. The former Sydneysiders have been living in the US for 50 years and have owned Hemingway’s for two decades.

Hemingway’s Bistro is located on Beaufort Port Royal Island, one of South Carolina’s coastal Sea Islands, and despite its proximity to water the couple is renowned for keeping their pub open no matter how bad the hurricane.

That includes Irma last year when thirsty locals waded through floodwater from the overflowing nearby river to get to the pub and stood in inches of water for a beer and wine.

“Even if the power goes out and there’s not much water in the place we put candles and lights in here and we’re still open,” Lea said.

When asked why they moved to the US originally, Lea laughed and said: “Greed.”

Florence is expected to make landfall north of Beaufort so the town and the Australians’ bar should be spared the most severe conditions.

“It’s not going to be bad,” Lea said.

“I went through (1989’s) Hurricane Hugo in a sailboat on Wando River in Charleston and I figure this one, nah, it’s not going to be that bad.”

That’s good for the thirsty locals.

If they brave the floodwater and hurricane winds they will find Lea and Andina perched on the bar sipping a beverage or two.

And the pair has even planned a party to provide a distraction when the monster hits.

AMERICA’S EAST BRACES FOR WORST

Hurricane Florence was on course on Wednesday to deliver a powerful blow to the east coast of the United States, with forecasters warning of life-threatening rainfall and flooding even as it weakened to a Category 2 storm.

Georgia joined four other coastal states issuing an emergency declaration as forecasts showed Florence dumping historic amounts of torrential rain on the southern state.

Ports are closing. Farmers are moving hogs to high ground. Dealers are parking cars in service bays for refuge. And up to three million energy customers in North and South Carolina could lose power for weeks.

Across the Carolinas, Virginia and Georgia, businesses are bracing for the economic damage Hurricane Florence is expected to inflict on the area. Industries like tourism and agriculture will likely suffer, and the losses won’t be easily or quickly overcome.

Once it makes landfall, Florence is expected to lash coastal communities with high winds and dump several feet of water.

Flooding could prove devastating. The storm will likely damage homes and businesses, kill crops, drown livestock, wash away cars and suspend much of the area’s economic activity.