Police worked to close a bridge into Carolina Beach, North Carolina, on September 12 ahead of Hurricane Florence's landfall.

This video shows officers briefly stopping a vehicle heading towards the bridge as they worked to shut the southbound lanes.

Authorities lowered Florence to a Category 3 hurricane earlier in the day, with wind speeds recording at around 115 mph, but state that the storm is still on a path that will put millions of people at risk and could potentially jump to a Category 5 overnight.

States of emergency have been declared in Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia as residents braced for the worst of the storm.

Police briefly stopped a vehicle heading towards a bridge into Carolina Beach, North Carolina on Route 471 while they worked to close the southbound lanes following an 8pm deadline on September 12, 2018, as Hurricane Florence approached the southeastern United States.