NASA captures stunning pics of Hurricane Florence dropping heavy rain over North Carolina

Washington, Sep 17: Hurricane Florence made landfall in North Carolina, bringing extreme winds, surging seas, huge amounts of rain to the coast, damaging tens of thousands of homes and threatening worse flooding as rivers fill to the bursting point. The death toll rose to at least 17.

Space view of Hurricane Florence

While forecasters have been keeping a close eye on the storm from the ground, the International Space Station watched the slow-moving hurricane make landfall from above. German Astronaut Alexander Gerst shared photos on his Twitter account of what the powerful storm looked like from his view in outer space.

Eye of Hurricane Florence

Photos from the International Space Station can complement data from earth observation satellites so astronauts are occasionally asked to take pictures of the planet.

Latest path of Hurricane Florence

The National Hurricane Center said: "Florence is expected to produce heavy and excessive rainfall in central and western North Carolina into far southwest Virginia.

Storm death toll rises to 17

Florence, a onetime hurricane that weakened to a tropical depression by Sunday, dumped up to 40 inches (100 cm) of rain on parts of North Carolina since Thursday, and continued to produce widespread heavy rain over much of North Carolina and eastern South Carolina, the National Weather Service said.