Hurricane Florence pounds Carolinas ahead of landfall

Hurricane Florence pounded the Carolinas Friday morning with heavy rain, gusting winds and rising floodwaters.

The massive, slow-moving storm crept toward the coastline, threatening millions of people in its path with record rainfall and punishing surf.

Overnight, Florence was downgraded to a Category 1 storm and was moving west at only 6 mph with winds of 90 mph. according to Reuters.

Weather Forecasters have said that the size of the storm means it will batter the East Coast for a full day.

Florence made landfall near Cape Fear, North Carolina.

At least 321,000 people were without power in North Carolina with the brunt of the storm yet to come, according to the state's emergency management agency.

Millions of people were expected to lose power from the storm and restoration could take weeks.

Roads and intersections on North Carolina's Outer Banks barrier islands were already inundated with water.

About 10 million people could be affected by the storm and more than 1 million had been ordered to evacuate the coasts of the Carolinas and Virginia, jamming westbound roads and highways for miles.