Hundreds of inmates were evacuated from a Virginia state prison ahead of Hurricane Florence’s arrival, officials say.

Roughly 1,000 prisoners at Virginia’s Indian Creek Correctional Center in Chesapeake were relocated Monday night after Gov. Ralph Northam issued a mandatory evacuation order for low-lying coastal areas, the Virginia Department of Corrections said.

The inmates were transferred to Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt, the state’s largest prison.

Indian Creek is an “intensive, long-term institution” that provides treatment programs for substance-abusing male inmates.

Visitations to prisons statewide were also canceled for Saturday and Sunday, the department said.

The monster Category 4 storm is expected to reach the coast of the Carolinas on Thursday, but Virginia is also under a state of emergency.