HURRICANE

‘UNINVITED BRUTE’ BRINGS FLOODS AND FEAR TO U.S.

Hurricane Florence lumbered ashore in North Carolina with howling 145 km/h winds and terrifying storm surge early Friday, splintering buildings and trapping hundreds of people in high water as it settled in for what could be a long and extraordinarily destructive drenching.

RESCUED

More than 60 people had to be pulled from a collapsing cinderblock motel at the height of the storm. Hundreds more had to be rescued elsewhere from rising waters. Others could only wait and hope someone would come for them. “WE ARE COMING TO GET YOU,” the city of New Bern tweeted around 2 a.m. “You may need to move up to the second storey, or to your attic, but WE ARE COMING TO GET YOU.”

DELUGE

Meteorologist Ryan Maue of weathermodels.com said Florence could dump 18 trillion gallons of rain over a week on North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky and Maryland. That’s enough to fill the Chesapeake Bay or cover the entire state of Texas with nearly 100mm of water, he calculated. North Carolina alone is forecast to get 9.6 trillion gallons, enough to cover the state to a depth of about 250mm.

CRAWLING

As the giant, 645-kilometre-wide hurricane pounded away, it unloaded heavy rain, flattened trees, chewed up roads and knocked out power to more than 800,000 homes and businesses. By early afternoon, Florence’s winds had weakened to 120 km/h, just barely a hurricane, but the storm itself had slowed to a crawl. “Hurricane Florence is powerful, slow and relentless,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said. “It’s an uninvited brute who doesn’t want to leave.” Cooper said the hurricane was “wreaking havoc” on the coast and could wipe out entire communities as it makes its “violent grind across our state for days.”

DEATHS

At least four deaths have been linked to the storm, according to officials. Police in Wilmington, N.C., said a woman and an infant were killed when a tree fell on their home. A third person — the father — was injured and taken to a hospital. Elsewhere, a man died using a generator, authorities said.

PREPARED

Preparing for the worst, about 9,700 National Guard troops and civilians were deployed with high-water vehicles, helicopters and boats that could be used to pluck people from the floodwaters. More than 11 million meals, 18 million litres of water, 60,000 cots and one million blankets were made ready to help residents.

SURGE

The storm surge was expected to be up to nearly four metres and seawaters could push inland more than three kilometres depending on how long Florence lingers.

CHIP SOMODEVILLA / GETTY IMAGES Volunteer Amber Hersel helps rescue seven-year-old Keiyana Cromartie and her family from their flooded home in James City, North Carolina.