A dangerous storm is expected to land shortly in the US East Coast, where it has already brought flooding and destructive gales.
Hurricane Florence, packing winds of up to 90mph (150 km/h), is first due to hit North Carolina.
It lost power on its approach, but officials warn it could still kill "a lot of people" amid risks of "catastrophic" flooding.
Evacuation warnings are in place for more than a million people, reports BBC.
The governor of North Carolina said surviving the storm would be a test of "endurance, teamwork, common sense, and patience".
"The first bands of the storm are upon us but we have days more to go," Roy Cooper said.
National Weather Service forecaster Brandon Locklear said North Carolina is likely to see eight months' worth of rain in two to three days.
Thousands of miles away meanwhile a huge typhoon is moving towards the Philippines. More than five million people are in the path of Super Typhoon Mangkhut, officials say.
Conditions in North Carolina have deteriorated throughout Thursday. Some areas saw almost a foot of rain just a few hours, and footage showed sea levels begin to surge in land.
At 23:00 local time (03:00 GMT) the National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said wind speeds had slightly lowered, making it a category one hurricane.
The NHC says that despite the gradual lowering in wind strength, the storm remains extremely dangerous because of the high volume of rainfall and storm surges predicted.
"Inland flooding kills a lot of people, unfortunately, and that's what we're about to see," said Brock Long, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema).
He said that people living near rivers, streams and lowland areas in the region were most at risk.
More than a million people have been ordered to leave the coasts of the Carolinas and Virginia, with more than 12,000 taking refuge in emergency shelters.
More than 150,000 people already without power, but energy companies warn up to three million homes and businesses could also lose power.
Officials have warned restoring electricity could take days or even weeks. Petrol stations in the area are also reporting shortages.
Parts of New Bern, North Carolina, are 3 metres (10 feet) underwater and 150 people are waiting to be rescued, authorities there said.