Hilarie Burton Invokes 'One Tree Hill' To Tell North Carolina Residents To Evacuate

Hilarie Burton attends a gala on Dec. 5, 2016 in New York City. (Photo: Taylor Hill/Getty Images)

“One Tree Hill” star Hilarie Burton implored fans and residents in North Carolina to evacuate their homes ahead of Hurricane Florence in an impassioned post on Instagram.

On Tuesday, the actress shared a snapshot from her days filming the hit show in Wilmington, North Carolina, accompanied by a plea for those living in that town and elsewhere in the state to evacuate.

“This storm is unlike any of the others we faced while there. Nature has a way of showing us how small we are, but to me, all of you in NC are big and important. Take care of yourselves. Get out of the storm’s way. Go go go go go. 
I’m praying for you,” she wrote.

Hurricane Florence is currently tracking toward North Carolina, with the state expected to receive the bulk of the hit when the storm makes landfall. The hurricane has been upgraded to a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of a whopping 130 miles per hour, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Hurricane Center.

As residents of North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia batten down the hatches, the governors of all three states have declared states of emergency.

North Carolina has only been hit by one Category 4 hurricane in its history, when Hurricane Hazel slammed the state with 130 mph winds in 1954.

• This article originally appeared on HuffPost.