As thousands evacuate the East Coast to avoid the fury of Hurricane Florence set to dump trillions of gallons of rain and barrel cities with its 106mph winds, some brave souls are sticking around to experience the storm in all its violent glory.
Jimmy Buffett led a score of adrenaline-junkies waiting for the storm to hit as he headed to Folly Beach in South Carolina to surf the surges.
Posing with a surfboard and a thumbs-up the 71-year-old musician quoted his own lyrics writing: ‘I ain’t afraid of dying, I got no need to explain, I feel like going surfing in a hurricane.’
‘On a serious note – respect mother nature, please be safe and listen to your local authorities,’ he added in a Instagram post from Wednesday.
As Hurricane Florence barreled towards the East Coast musician Jimmy Buffett and other surfers headed to the water, the musician gave a thumbs up with his surfboard at Folly Beach in South Carolina on Wednesday
Oak City, North Carolina resident Jenna says she’s riding out the storm because the impending chaos is ‘an adrenaline rush’
Other surfers seemed to have the same idea. Surfer Mike Martin pictured heading out to ride the storm swells in Charleston
While thousands evacuated the Carolinas, bold surfers headed to Folly Beach to ride the storm surges on Thursday
Surf’s Up! A surfer rides the increased swells as Hurricane Florence swirls towards the Carolina coast on Thursday
Can’t get enough: A surfer captures a wave at Folly Beach to ride the storm surges that began to flood the Carolinas on Thursday
By Thursday evening Florence’s eye was located 85miles east-south east of Wilmington, North Carolina crawling at 5mph
Other surfers seemed to have the same idea as Buffett and headed to the popular surf spot to ride the rare swells at the South Carolina shore as thousands of residents in the area evacuated.
The Mayor of Folly Beach closed the bridge onto the island Wednesday evening and encouraged residents to observe the mandatory evacuation announced on Monday.
A Oak City, North Carolina coast resident named Jenna says she’s not evacuating because waiting for the eye of the storm is ‘an adrenaline rush’.
‘At this point, I am going to stay as long as I can. There’s a chance that they won’t close the bridge if you have sustained gusts of 40mph. So until they close the bridge, I’m going to be here,’ she said in an interview with MSNBC.
‘It’s an adrenaline rush. You know, you can’t control Mother Nature. She doesn’t make exceptions. And as a surfer, you never see waves this big except for during hurricanes. So it’s kind of surreal to see them here,’ she added according to Raw Story.
While adrenaline junkies headed to the water, many boarded up their businesses writing ‘No Flos Allowed’
Evacuated: A local bank was covered in plywood and abandoned in New Bern, North Carolina as thousands evacuated
The storm began to impact the Carolina coast on Thursday with the wild waves flooding the states with water, Snapchat footage of the damage pictured above
Water from the Neuse River flooded houses as Hurricane Florence neared the shore on Thursday in New Bern, North Carolina
Residents were left waist deep in water as water from the Neuse River flooded over its banks and inundated the city
Shelter: Residents took refuge in a Red Cross shelter bracing for Hurricane Florence’s impact in Grantsboro, North Carolina
A work truck can barely see the road in front of it as Hurricane Florence blows through Swansboro, North Carolina
Residents who didn’t flee the East Coast were left drenched in the floods of the Neuse River
Residents made their way down the unrecognizable flooded streets in makeshift boats made of a metal tub and fishing floats
The floods are just the beginning as Florence could dump 10 trillion gallons of water across the South
Waves crash around the Oceana Pier in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina as the outer edges of Hurricane Florence being to affect the coast on Thursday
Huge waves lashed the beaches of North Carolina as the hurricane rolling in bringing heavy rain
Other North Carolina residents refuse to leave and are preparing their homes and bracing themselves for the inevitable hit.
‘It’s a very serious storm, but it could hit anywhere in North Carolina, so where are we going to run to? So we’ll stay home and stick it out,’ Wilmington man Mickey Gentry, 64, said to NBC.
To prepare Gentry boarded up his windows, filled his bathtub with water, and has been packing his family’s belongings away.
Gentry, who has waited out past hurricanes says he’s still haunted by the memories of storms that barreled his home town.
‘The noise, that whistle of the wind, it will drive you crazy. It will wear on your psyche. It still spooks me,’ he said.
By Thursday Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo said those wanting to escape the hurricane were probably too late.
‘At this point in time, with the wind starting to come in now, I think it’s too late. The window has closed,’ he said.
North Carolina already felt the impact of the storm on Thursday as storm surges flooded New Bern wrecking houses and sending residents down the streets in boats in the six-feet deep water.
The surges flowed over sand dunes on coast as well, rushing into the residential streets.
North Carolina felt the first bite of monster Hurricane Florence on Thursday as the outer bands of wind and rain from the life-threatening storm bore down on the US east coast, Florence pictured from space
Floods are expected to inundate the East Coast with North Carolina getting its first taste Thursday afternoon
Extreme rainfall is also inundating the Carolinas with 12.73inches counted by Thursday evening in Atlantic Beach.
North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Florence have all issued declarations of emergency bracing for the eye of storm to make landfall on Friday.
By Thursday the Category 2 storm’s waves thrashed upon coast line and left 90,000 people without power, according to ABC.
Florence is forecast to dump up to 40 inches of rain in some areas after it makes landfall in North and South Carolina Thursday night or Friday and bring life-threatening storm surges of up to 13 feet as well as the possibilities of tornadoes in North Carolina.
Overall the storm is forecast to dump up to 10 trillion gallons of rain in the South.
By Thursday evening Florence’s eye was located 85miles east-south east of Wilmington, North Carolina crawling at 5mph, according to the The Weather Channel.
Florence’s eye could hit land early Friday near the North Carolina-South Carolina line. From there the storm is like to hover along the coast Saturday, pushing up to 13 feet (nearly 4 meters) of storm surge and unloading water on both states.
More than 1.7 million people in the Carolinas and Virginia were warned to clear out. The National Weather Service said about 5.25 million people live in areas under hurricane warnings or watches, and 4.9 million in places covered by tropical storm warnings or watches.