President Donald Trump will pay tribute to the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks Tuesday at a ceremony in western Pennsylvania, taking on a rare role that has sometimes been challenging for him: consoler-in-chief.  First lady Melania Trump will accompany her husband to the event that marks the 17th anniversary of the attacks that killed more than 3,000 people and triggered ongoing battles against violent extremists.  After hijackers flew planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, some 40 passengers and crew aboard United Airlines Flight 93 – believed to be headed to the U.S. Capitol building or the White House – organized a charge into the cockpit to confront their captors.  Amid the ensuing fight the plane crashed into a field in Somerset County, north of Shanksville.  Marking the solemn occasion requires Trump to give a formal speech, something he is not accustomed to doing as he delivers the kinds of partisan, free-wheeling, off-the-cuff campaign speeches he has been making ahead of the Nov. 6 midterm congressional elections.

Speaking at the Pentagon, one of the three sites attacked with hijacked airplanes on Sept. 11, 2001, Trump said, “the terrorists who attacked us thought they could incite fear and weaken our spirit. But America cannot be intimidated, and those who try will soon join the long list of vanquished enemies who dared to test our mettle.”  On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said the president’s focus will be on “remembering the lives that were lost” and honoring those who “put their lives on the line to help” respond to the tragedy.  The Shanksville ceremony will include the sounds of the Tower of Voices, a 93-foot-tall concrete and steel structure featuring a wind chime for each person on board with its own distinctive sound.  The tower is the final phase of the 2,200-acre Flight 93 National Memorial. A visitor’s center opened three years ago; a memorial plaza was dedicated on the 10th anniversary in 2011.  The 9/11 commemoration has become an annual event for presidents since President George W. Bush grabbed a bullhorn to speak to workers in the rubble of the destroyed World Trade Center.

A coastal North Carolina county on Monday issued a mandatory evacuation order for its entire population as a Hurricane Florence strengthened to a Category 3 storm and continued its slow but angry dance toward the U.S. East Coast.  The National Hurricane Center said Florence is expected to slam into the coast around North and South Carolina as a Category 3 hurricane on Thursday or Friday. The storm’s winds had increased to 115 mph on Monday.  North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said he had asked President Trump for a federal disaster declaration ahead of the storm.  Dare County officials ordered everyone to leave Hatteras Island on Monday. Residents and visitors in popular tourist spots such as Duck and Corolla faced a Tuesday deadline.  Dare County has a year-round population of more than 30,000 people, but the population balloons during tourist seasons. It was not immediately clear how many people.

The National Hurricane Center said the storm was expected to continue growing in strength through the day. The center of Florence was forecast to sweep between Bermuda and the Bahamas on Tuesday and Wednesday before making its assault on the U.S. coast.  “Florence is forecast to become a major hurricane this morning, and is expected to remain an extremely dangerous major hurricane through Thursday,” the hurricane center warned.  The hurricane center warned that the swells are likely to cause “life-threatening” surf and current conditions. Even before the evacuation order, Dare County emergency officials warned that rough seas and strong rip currents are already creating dangerous conditions.  Satellite imagery indicated that the maximum sustained winds have increased to near 105 mph with higher gusts. A “major” hurricane is one with sustained winds of more than 110 mph.   Any Category 3, 4, or 5 hurricane is classified as a major hurricane.  Some portions of the Carolinas could see as much as 20 inches of rain from Florence, which would lead to river flooding that “could last for days or weeks” after the storm. The Weather Channel warned of a “disastrous” level of flooding for parts of the area.   The  hurricane center’s breakdown of storm strength says Category 3 storms can bring “devastating” destruction. Homes can be damaged, trees uprooted and electricity and water can be knocked out for days or weeks, the center warns.