More than 100 shelters have been opened across North Carolina

Fifty-six school districts and most of the UNC system have canceled classes.

Cooper begged residents to follow mandatory evacuation orders and to prepare for Hurricane Florence

RALEIGH — North Carolina, including its Gov. Roy Cooper, breathed a collective sigh of relief when Hurricane Florence decided to move inland further south Wednesday.

But hours before it's expected to the batter the North Carolina coast, Cooper begged residents to follow mandatory evacuation orders and continue to prepare.

"My message today: Don't relax. Don't get complacent," Cooper said Thursday morning.

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Though it weakened to a Category 2 storm overnight, the National Hurricane Center warned Florence still brings hurricane-force winds extending outward up to 80 miles from the center. Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 195 miles, the center said.

Florence has forced several Western North Carolina counties, including Buncombe, to declare a state of emergency. Buncombe's declaration begins at 12:01 a.m. Friday and may last until Sept. 20 unless the order is rescinded before then.

More than 100 shelters have opened across North Carolina, and a so-called mega-shelter Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Colesium in Winston-Salem with the capacity to house 1,000 people was about 75 percent full by Thurday morning. Cooper said the state is working to open other mega-shelters.

Fifty-six school districts and most of the UNC system canceled classes. Some 6,400 national guardsmen are on duty in the Carolinas and Virginia in preparation.

Cooper said Florence will bring "destruction" to the state, and urged residents to be prepared for power outages that could last longer than a week. Duke Energy said Wednesday it estimates as many as 3 million outages are possible in the Carolinas — meaning 75 percent of customers could be without power.

North Carolina Emergency Management reported early Thursday afternoon more than 12,000 outages statewide, mostly in Carteret and Craven counties.

SEE: Cooper on Hurricane Florence: 'Disaster is at the doorstep and it's coming in'

State officials expect those in the southeast portion of the state will be most severely impacted. More than 1 million people in the Carolinas and Virginia have been impacted by mandatory evacuation orders.

"Make no mistake, whether the eye of the storm makes landfall on our shores or further south, we're on the wrong side of this storm," Cooper said, reminding people that Hurricane Matthew, which walloped the state two years ago, didn't even make landfall in the state.

He said flash floods could be "swift and intense" across the state, and warned that people might not hear official warnings about dangerous roads before encountering them.

Cooper said he has been in touch with President Donald Trump and cabinet officials, who assured they'll provide what the state needs during the storm.

Florence still poses a significant flood risk for Western North Carolina. Asheville should expect 4-6 inches of rain, with as much as 8-10 inches at higher elevations, National Weather Service meteorologist Lauren Carroll said Thursday.

"Mountains encourage more rainfall," she said.