Hurricane Florence, currently battering the Carolinas, was photographed by astronauts in the International Space Station on Wednesday as it made its way onshore in the U.S.
German crew member Alexander Gerst said that he had to use the widest angle of lens that he had just to get the whole storm in one image. He also somewhat ominously quipped in a tweet from the ISS, "Get prepared on the East Coast, this is a no-kidding nightmare coming for you.”
The stunning images and video clearly show the full extent of the 400-mile wide storm and a scattering of clouds and blue sky in the clearly visible central eye of the weather pattern. More images were captured of two other hurricanes (named Isaac and Helene) gaining strength in the Atlantic. Isaac has since been downgraded to a tropical depression while Helene is a tropical storm set to make landfall in the UK by sometime Monday.
Florence has already killed 13 people and caused catastrophic flooding in North and South Carolina, and continues to move slowly northwest, even as it loses strength over land, with sustained winds now at only 40 miles per hour. A local caller on last night’s program said there were actually reports of alligator sightings in the downtown area of New Bern, North Carolina, due to wildlife being displaced by the weather, flooding, and tidal surges.