Hurricane Florence was a major tropical cyclone, powerful and Cape Verde hurricane in the Atlantic that caused severe and extensive damage in the Carolinas in September 2018. The storm threatened the East Coast of the United States with major and catastrophic flooding, especially in the Carolinas. The sixth named storm, the third hurricane, and the first major hurricane of the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season. Florence first came off from Africa as a tropical wave on August 30, 2018.