2018’s first named gulf coast storm is about to make landfall today, and many local residents are now bracing for the effects.

The eye of subtropical storm Alberto will be hitting Florida’s panhandle later today and traveling up the middle of the US, bringing flash flooding and powerful winds to the Carolinas.

According to the National Weather Service’s latest warning;

“Maximum sustained winds are near 65 mph (100 km/h) with higher gusts. Little change in strength is expected before Alberto reaches the northern Gulf Coast later today. Steady weakening is forecast after landfall, and Alberto will likely become a subtropical depression tonight or early Tuesday and degenerate into a remnant low by Tuesday afternoon.

Winds of 40 mph extend outward up to 105 miles (165 km) from the center. An elevated observing station located about 15 miles (25 km) south of Apalachicola, Florida, has recently reported sustained winds of 46 mph (74 km/h). A wind gust to 39 mph (63 km/h) was recently observed at Apalachicola, Florida.”

Nice image from #GOES16 of the sun setting over large subtropical storm #Alberto this evening. Alberto’s maximum sustained winds are now 65 mph as it moves northeastward towards the Gulf coast. Flooding rain remains the greatest concern for us over the next few days. pic.twitter.com/kxpimSJGxJ

— NWS GSP (@NWSGSP) May 28, 2018

The Carolinas will be hit especially hard by the storm, with the potential of up to 4″ of rain hitting our region within the next couple of days;

Flash flood watches have already been issued for most counties around the Charlotte region, including for Avery, Burke, Cabarrus, Caldwell, Catawba, Chester (SC), Chesterfield (SC), Cleveland, Gaston, Iredell, Lancaster, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Rowan, Stanly, Union, and York (SC) counties through tomorrow morning.

Officials recommend anyone living in the above counties to prepare for possible power outages and flooded roads. Heavy rains and thunderstorms are expected to stay in the Charlotte region until Thursday evening.

Walmart has just announced plans to compete with Target’s Shipt and Amazon Now grocery delivery services in Charlotte and 5 other select markets around the country. They plan on expanding the service to over 100 metro areas by the end of this year.

“We’re saving customers time by leveraging new technology, and connecting all the parts of our business into a single seamless shopping experience: great stores, easy pickup, fast delivery, and apps and websites that are simple to use,” commented Greg Foran, president and CEO, Walmart U.S. “We’re serving our customers in ways that no one else can. Using our size and scale, we’re bringing the best of Walmart to customers across the country.”

Charlotte customers place their orders online at Walmart.com/grocery or on the existing Walmart Grocery App, and unlike other services, the same prices online will be the same prices they offer in the store.

The service currently ‘personal shoppers’ to fulfill orders in stores and Uber drivers to deliver the groceries. They currently employ over 18,000 personal shoppers and plans to add thousands more over the course of 2018 as they expand their grocery delivery service.

These employees have to first complete a three-week training program to learn how to prepare online orders, which involves learning how to pick the best produce or the best cuts of meat.

There are currently over 1,200 stores offering grocery pickup, up from over 900 in 2017, 600 in 2016, and just 100 in 2015. Walmart says it will expand curbside pickup another 1,000 stores in 2018.

“Our commitment goes further than saving customers money,” commented Tom Ward, vice president, Digital Operations, Walmart U.S. “Ninety percent of Americans live within 10 miles of a Walmart store, and we serve more than 150 million customers a week, which gives us a unique opportunity to make every day a little easier for busy families.”

Walmart’s Online Grocery Delivery carries a $9.95 fee with a $30 minimum order. Customers can get their first order delivered for free using promo code FRESHCAR.

Charlotte’s biggest ‘corpse flower’, nicknamed ‘Odie’, has just opened up at UNCC’s botanical gardens.

The ‘corpse flower’ or titan arum, is the largest unstemmed inflorescence flower in the world, and Odie is now officially the largest titan arum to ever bloom in Charlotte. The massive flower typically requires between 7–10 years of growth before it will bloom for the first time, and each bloom only lasts between 12-24 hours before wilting.

If you want to see this beauty in person, you’ll have to make it to the UNCC Botanical Gardens before tomorrow night;

Charlotte’s own ‘corpse flower’ is now blooming…more info via link in profile 😲🤢🤧🌷📸 via @nbetler – #Odie #UNCCharlotteTitan #corpseflower #unccharlotte #cltstories

A post shared by Charlotte Stories (@cltstories) on May 24, 2018 at 2:04pm PDT

The plant is native of the jungles of Sumatra, where it can produce massive flower structures in excess of 10 feet in height. When cultivated, the structures typically range between 5-8 feet tall.

The plant is nicknamed the ‘corpse flower’ because of it’s extremely strong and extremely unpleasant scent. The chemicals released by the spadix include dimethyl trisulfide (limburger cheese), trimethylamine (rotting fish), isovaleric acid (sweaty socks), benzyl alcohol (sweet floral scent), phenol (like Chloraseptic), and indole (like human feces). The plant uses all of these foul scents to attract bugs and beetles to help it pollinate.

UNCC’s botanical gardens saw their first corpse flower bloom back in 2007, when over 4,000 people lined up to watch ‘Bella’ bloom. The plant bloomed once more in 2010 before dying died. Their second blooming corpse flower, named Odie, opened for the first time in 2015.

You can find out more info about Odie and watch a live webcam on UNCC’s website here.