North Carolina devastated as floodwaters rise from deadly storm Florence
WILSON/WILMINGTON, N.C., (Reuters) Deadly storm Florence drenched North Carolina with more downpours yesterday, cutting off the coastal city of Wilmington, damaging tens of thousands of homes and threatening worse flooding as rivers fill to the bursting point.
The death toll rose to at least 16.
Florence, a onetime hurricane that weakened to a tropical depression by Sunday, dumped up to 40 inches (100 cm) of rain on parts of North Carolina since Thursday, and continued to produce widespread heavy rain over much of North Carolina and eastern South Carolina, the National Weather Service said.
“The storm has never been more dangerous than it is right now,” North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper told a news conference. Many rivers “are still rising, and are not expected to crest until later today or tomorrow.”
Some rivers were not expected to crest until Monday or Tuesday, the National Weather Service said.
More than 900 people were rescued from rising floodwaters and 15,000 remained in shelters in the state, Cooper said.
South Carolina’s governor issued a similar warning, urging anyone in a flood-prone area to evacuate.
“Those rivers in North Carolina that have received heavy rainfall are coming our way,” Governor Henry McMaster said during a news conference. “They have not even begun (to crest). But they will. And the question is how high will the water be, and we do not know.”
The storm killed at least 10 people in North Carolina, including a mother and child killed by a falling tree, state officials said. Six people died in South Carolina, including four in car accidents and two from carbon monoxide from a portable generator.
Officials urged those who had evacuated to stay away.
“Our roads are flooded, there is no access into Wilmington,” New Hanover County Commission Chairman Woody White told a news conference. “We want you home, but you can’t come yet.”
In New Bern, a riverfront city near North Carolina’s coast, the storm tore away porch steps, splintered balconies and sent a yacht plowing into a garage that shattered like kindling.
Anne Francis Coronado came back on Sunday to inspect the damage with her husband.
“There’s mud all over the floor and the wood floors have buckled,” she said, adding they planned to return to her brother’s house because of the musty smell that pervades their home.