Up to a million told to evacuate S. Carolina coast ahead of hurricane

South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster ordered a mandatory evacuation on Monday of up to one million residents of the US state's eastern coast ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Florence.

"This is a very dangerous hurricane," McMaster told a press conference.

"We do not want to risk one South Carolina life in this hurricane," he said, announcing the evacuation of a nearly 320-kilometer stretch of coast beginning at noon (1600 GMT) on Tuesday.

Florence, a Category 4 hurricane, is expected to make landfall in South Carolina or North Carolina on Thursday.