Rains create nightmare in Carolinas
Catastrophic flooding spreads across Carolinas
WILMINGTON, N.C. • The winds have dropped well below hurricane force, but there is no relaxing here in the Carolinas, with torrential rains likely to continue for days, creating nightmare scenarios.
“The risk to life is rising with the angry waters,” Gov. Roy Cooper declared Sunday as the storm’s death toll climbed to 16.
Catastrophic flooding spread across the Carolinas on Sunday, with roads to Wilmington cut off by the epic deluge and muddy river water swamping entire neighbourhoods kilometres inland.
The storm continued to crawl westward, dumping more than 75 centimetres of rain in spots since Friday, and fears of historic flooding grew.
Tens of thousands were ordered evacuated from communities along the state’s steadily rising rivers — with the Cape Fear, Little River, Lumber, Waccamaw and Pee Dee rivers all projected to burst their banks.
In Wilmington, with all roads in and out of the city underwater and streams still swelling, residents waited for hours outside stores and restaurants for basic necessities like water. Police guarded the door of one store, and only 10 people were allowed inside at a time.
Woody White, chairman of the board of commissioners of New Hanover County, said officials were planning for food and water to be flown into the coastal city of nearly 120,000 people.
“Our roads are flooded,” he said. “There is no access to Wilmington.”
As rivers swelled, state regulators were monitoring the threat from gigantic hog and poultry farms in lowlying, flood-prone areas.
The industrial-scale farms contain vast pits of animal feces and urine that can pose a significant pollution threat if they are breached or inundated by floodwaters.
In past hurricanes, flooding at dozens of farms also left hundreds of thousands of dead hogs, chickens and other decomposing livestock bobbing in floodwaters.
About 115 kilometres away from the coast, residents near the Lumber River stepped from their homes directly into boats floating in their front yards; river forecasts showed the scene could be repeated in towns as far as 350 kilometres inland as waters rise for days.
Downgraded overnight to a tropical depression, Florence was still massive. Radar showed parts of the sprawling storm over six states, with North and South Carolina in the bull’s-eye.
In North Carolina, fears of what could be the worst flooding in the state’s history led officials to order tens of thousands to evacuate, though it wasn’t clear how many had fled or even could. The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Brock Long, said officials were focused on finding people and rescuing them.
“We’ll get through this. It’ll be ugly, but we’ll get through it,” Long told NBC’S Meet The Press. The storm’s death toll climbed to 16 when a pickup truck ran into standing water in South Carolina and the driver lost control, hitting a tree, authorities said. Two other people also died in storm-related wrecks, and two more people died from inhaling carbon monoxide from a generator in their home.
Victor Merlos was overjoyed to find a store open for business in Wilmington since he had about 20 relatives at his apartment, which still had power. He spent more than $500 on cereal, eggs, soft drinks and other necessities, plus beer.
Stream gauges across the region showed water levels rising steadily, with forecasts calling for rivers to crest Sunday and Monday at or near record levels. The Defence Department said about 13,500 military personnel had been assigned to help relief efforts.
Rainfall totals were stunning.
In Swansboro, N.C., nearly 85 cm of rain had fallen by Sunday afternoon and 20 other places in North Carolina had at least 50 cm, according to the National Weather Service. Another 30 sites in North and Carolina had at least 25 cm.
Water on the Cape Fear River near Chinquapin got so high that electronic instruments used to monitor flooding quit working after they became submerged, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The same thing happened on the Trent River.
Duke Energy said heavy rains caused a slope to collapse at a coal ash landfill at a closed power station outside Wilmington late Saturday, but there was no indication contamination had drained into the nearby Cape Fear River. The company initially estimated that about 1,530 cubic metres of ash were displaced at the landfill, enough to fill about 180 dump trucks. Sheehan said that estimate could be revised.
Near the flooded-out town of New Bern, where about 455 people had to be rescued from the swirling flood waters, water completely surrounded churches, businesses and homes.
The rain was unrelenting in Cheraw, a town of about 6,000 in northeastern South Carolina. Streets were flooded and Police Chief Keith Thomas warned people not to drive, but the local food and gas store had customers.
“As you can tell, they’re not listening to me,” he said.