Hurricane Florence - live updates: State of emergency in Maryland and mandatory evacuation in South Carolina as trackers predict storm will reach category 5

Hurricane Florence has strengthened into a category 4 storm as it makes its way towards the United States East Coast, where it is expected to make landfall later this week.

The storm is the strongest of several weather systems that the National Hurricane Centre is keeping an eye on as hurricane season reaches its statistical peak.

Florence has sustained winds of over 130 mph, and is likely to lead to weather advisories along the Carolina coast, where it is expected to spread severe winds and heavy rains inland before losing power and dying down. Before it dies, however, the storm may stall over the Carolinas, leading to heavy and sustained rains that could lead to life threatening flooding.

The National Hurricane Centre has repeatedly said that warm water conditions in the Atlantic are helping fuel the storm, which has been gaining speed and strength at an alarming pace.

Officials in North Carolina have already begun to issue mandatory evacuations for parts of the coast there, the entire coast of South Carolina has received evacuation orders, and the governor of Maryland has issued a declaration of emergency for his state in anticipation of the storm impacts. Maryland follows after both North and South Carolina, as well as Virginia, in declaring states of emergency.

"The Storms in the Atlantic are very dangerous," President Donald Trump tweeted Monday. "We encourage anyone in the path of these storms to prepare themselves and to heed the warnings of State and Local officials. The Federal Government is closely monitoring and ready to assist. We are with you!"

His message came alongside those from governors in the state, who explained to their constituents that they would be opening up shelters to help people who live in vulnerable areas while the storm — which is expected to make landfall later this week — hits the US.

Behind Florence in the Atlantic are at least two other storm systems, Hurricane Isaac and Hurricane Helene. In the Pacific, the state of Hawaii is expecting to be hit by its second hurricane of the season if Hurricane Olivia makes its way to the islands as predicted.

Things lost and saved: One year on from Hurricane Irma 7 show all Things lost and saved: One year on from Hurricane Irma 1/7 Inez Gibbs During September of 2017, the Caribbean was hit by two powerful hurricanes, Irma and Maria. Almost a year after the rebuilding effort continue at a slow pace and with fear of what this year hurricane season could bring. who is diabetic, lost everything except her bed and her teddy bears. Cash assistance from the Red Cross helped her to support herself while she waited to return to work. “These and my bed are the only things I saved. The teddy bears are my buddies, they are my friends. I bought them here from Jamaica 20 years ago. Everything else I had I lost. The cash I got was very helpful because I wasn’t able to work after the hurricane so it helped me to pay my bills and buy my medication.” Dennis Rivera/British Red Cross 2/7 Cleve Pennyfeather, Disaster Response Officer at BVI Red Cross Cleve has been working for the British Virgin Islands Red Cross since January this year, working with local communities to help them recover from Irma and prepare for future hurricanes. The house he grew up in was badly damaged by the hurricane. “This house is very sentimental to me - it has been in my family well over 80 years and it means a lot to us. I grew up in this house as a little boy until I left for high school. It belonged to my grandparents, and now belongs to my uncle who is 91. Irma completely destroyed the roof, but thankfully the Red Cross provided him with some cash so that he could buy materials to get it rebuilt.” Dennis Rivera/British Red Cross 3/7 Joan Chimney, 56 Joan runs the popular Sugar and Spice café on the island of Jost Van Dyke. She was on holiday in Grenada when the hurricane hit, but returned home to find her business badly damaged. “Everybody always comes to my restaurant and says they’re here for my patties. I make them every morning, wake up and come down to my shop to make them from scratch. The hurricane did some damage to my restaurant though - all the windows and doors gone. It’s a good thing that the Red Cross was there to give me some help buying them back so I could keep my business going.” Dennis Rivera/British Red Cross 4/7 Lorie Rymer, 70 Lorie, a keen viola player, saw his most treasured possession damaged in Hurricane Irma, all he has now is the broken remains. “My house I will build back, but there’s no way that I could replace my instrument, my viola, I cannot replace it. It was just precious, I can still hear it in my mind how it used to sound. I would give anything if I might be able to purchase one again, a used one. It has to be very old and seasoned wood, maybe 30, 40, 50 years old. I’m going to take this one with me to the UK and have it repaired.” Dennis Rivera/British Red Cross 5/7 Lucia Harrigan, 81 81-year-old Lucia, who had lived in her home for 60 years before it was destroyed by Hurricane Irma, is looking forward to returning to her own home. “When I see the destruction and I see what I had loved so dearly I sit down and I cry. The whole roof went, the shutters, and a brand new washer that I had just bought. I lost all my dining chairs, my living room set and a lot of my clothes, but I’m not worried about that, as long as I could find something to wear. But I saved a few things, maybe some are salvageable or maybe not. My favourite thing that I lost is the deeds to my land. I hope that I will get back in the house soon, because when you get to my age you like to be by yourself.” Dennis Rivera/British Red Cross 6/7 Darrel Turnball Hurricane Irma destroyed almost everything Darrel owned, including his much-loved photo-album, but he managed to recover one of his favourite childhood toys. “This is my best friend – I have carried him with me my whole life. When I got married he was with me, when I got divorced he was with me, he goes everywhere I go. I was so happy when I realised he hadn’t been damaged in the hurricane.” Dennis Rivera/British Red Cross 7/7 Rasheed Jennings, 20 When Irma hit, Rasheed sheltered in the bathroom with his mother, father and brother - from there all they could do was watch as Irma shattered their home. “The first thing that Irma blew out was the windows and then once the wind started to circle through the house it lifted up the doors and the roof, and once that was gone there was no protection and everything just started to float through the doors. Even my computer and PlayStation and all my gaming stuff was blown away, I didn’t even think to protect them. We could see the damage through the window in the bathroom but there wasn’t anything we could do at that point.” Dennis Rivera/British Red Cross 1/7 Inez Gibbs During September of 2017, the Caribbean was hit by two powerful hurricanes, Irma and Maria. Almost a year after the rebuilding effort continue at a slow pace and with fear of what this year hurricane season could bring. who is diabetic, lost everything except her bed and her teddy bears. Cash assistance from the Red Cross helped her to support herself while she waited to return to work. “These and my bed are the only things I saved. The teddy bears are my buddies, they are my friends. I bought them here from Jamaica 20 years ago. Everything else I had I lost. The cash I got was very helpful because I wasn’t able to work after the hurricane so it helped me to pay my bills and buy my medication.” Dennis Rivera/British Red Cross 2/7 Cleve Pennyfeather, Disaster Response Officer at BVI Red Cross Cleve has been working for the British Virgin Islands Red Cross since January this year, working with local communities to help them recover from Irma and prepare for future hurricanes. The house he grew up in was badly damaged by the hurricane. “This house is very sentimental to me - it has been in my family well over 80 years and it means a lot to us. I grew up in this house as a little boy until I left for high school. It belonged to my grandparents, and now belongs to my uncle who is 91. Irma completely destroyed the roof, but thankfully the Red Cross provided him with some cash so that he could buy materials to get it rebuilt.” Dennis Rivera/British Red Cross 3/7 Joan Chimney, 56 Joan runs the popular Sugar and Spice café on the island of Jost Van Dyke. She was on holiday in Grenada when the hurricane hit, but returned home to find her business badly damaged. “Everybody always comes to my restaurant and says they’re here for my patties. I make them every morning, wake up and come down to my shop to make them from scratch. The hurricane did some damage to my restaurant though - all the windows and doors gone. It’s a good thing that the Red Cross was there to give me some help buying them back so I could keep my business going.” Dennis Rivera/British Red Cross 4/7 Lorie Rymer, 70 Lorie, a keen viola player, saw his most treasured possession damaged in Hurricane Irma, all he has now is the broken remains. “My house I will build back, but there’s no way that I could replace my instrument, my viola, I cannot replace it. It was just precious, I can still hear it in my mind how it used to sound. I would give anything if I might be able to purchase one again, a used one. It has to be very old and seasoned wood, maybe 30, 40, 50 years old. I’m going to take this one with me to the UK and have it repaired.” Dennis Rivera/British Red Cross 5/7 Lucia Harrigan, 81 81-year-old Lucia, who had lived in her home for 60 years before it was destroyed by Hurricane Irma, is looking forward to returning to her own home. “When I see the destruction and I see what I had loved so dearly I sit down and I cry. The whole roof went, the shutters, and a brand new washer that I had just bought. I lost all my dining chairs, my living room set and a lot of my clothes, but I’m not worried about that, as long as I could find something to wear. But I saved a few things, maybe some are salvageable or maybe not. My favourite thing that I lost is the deeds to my land. I hope that I will get back in the house soon, because when you get to my age you like to be by yourself.” Dennis Rivera/British Red Cross 6/7 Darrel Turnball Hurricane Irma destroyed almost everything Darrel owned, including his much-loved photo-album, but he managed to recover one of his favourite childhood toys. “This is my best friend – I have carried him with me my whole life. When I got married he was with me, when I got divorced he was with me, he goes everywhere I go. I was so happy when I realised he hadn’t been damaged in the hurricane.” Dennis Rivera/British Red Cross 7/7 Rasheed Jennings, 20 When Irma hit, Rasheed sheltered in the bathroom with his mother, father and brother - from there all they could do was watch as Irma shattered their home. “The first thing that Irma blew out was the windows and then once the wind started to circle through the house it lifted up the doors and the roof, and once that was gone there was no protection and everything just started to float through the doors. Even my computer and PlayStation and all my gaming stuff was blown away, I didn’t even think to protect them. We could see the damage through the window in the bathroom but there wasn’t anything we could do at that point.” Dennis Rivera/British Red Cross

Florence could strengthen to be close to a Category 5 hurricane, with sustained winds of 150 mph. It is currently expected that the storm may make landfall in the US as a Category 4 storm.