Trump urges Carolinians to flee record-setting Hurricane Florence: 'Get out of its way. Don't play games'

@realDonaldTrump via Twitter

Donald Trump's video warning.

• President Donald Trump issued a video warning urging US citizens in the path of Hurricane Florence to "get out of the storm's way" as the category-4 storm looks set to drop record-setting rainfall on the area. 
• Hurricane Florence is forecast to hit North and South Carolina as early as tomorrow, and is predicted to bring up to 40 inches of rain and 13 feet of floodwater, levels deemed "catastrophic" by experts.
• Trump simultaneously waged a war of words against San Juan, Puerto Rico's Mayor after a new report found 2,975 people died in hurricanes there last year. 

President Donald Trump issued a video warning urging US citizens in the path of Hurricane Florence to "get out of the storm's way" as the category 4 storm looks set to drop record-setting rainfall on the area. 

"Hurricane Florence is fast approaching, it's going to be here over the next 48 hours and they say it's about as big as they've seen coming to this country, and certainly to the East Coast, as they've ever seen. We'll handle it," Trump said. 

Hurricane Florence is forecast to hit North and South Carolina as early as tomorrow, and is predicted to bring up to 40 inches of rain and 13 feet of floodwater, levels deemed "catastrophic" by experts.

The category-4 hurricane was carrying sustained winds of 130 mph as of 5 a.m. ET on Tuesday, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).

The US has been hit with category-5 hurricanes before, but never along the Carolinas. 

"Get out of its way. Don't play games with it. It's a big one," Trump said. "The storm will come, it will go... We're fully prepared. Food, medical, everything you can imagine, we are ready."

"But despite that, bad things can happen when you're talking about a storm this size," said Trump.

During Trump's two years as president, the US has seen a number of massive storms dealing significant damage.

Trump's "bad things can happen" comment recalls the multiple hurricanes that rocked Puerto Rico, ultimately leaving 2,975 people dead.

The Mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Carmen Yulín Cruz, fiercely criticized Trump's response to the storm, telling CNN in August that Trump "killed the Puerto Ricans with neglect."

Trump on Wednesday also lashed out at Cruz, calling her "totally incompetent" on Twitter. Trump blamed the island's poor infrastructure as one reason for the delayed response. 

But photos showing a massive stockpile of water bottles abandoned on a runway in Puerto Rico undistributed a year after the storm also point to elements of mismanagement during the crisis. 

Trump recently celebrated the US's response to the hurricanes in Puerto Rico as an "unsung success."

For the latest news on Florence, click here. 

Watch Trump's full address below: