Widespread flooding as Florence hits

As the death toll from Florence mounted and hundreds of people were pulled from flooded homes, North Carolina was bracing for what could be the next stage of a stillunfolding disaster: widespread, catastrophic river flooding.

After blowing ashore as a hurricane with 145km/h winds, Florence virtually parked itself much of the weekend atop the Carolinas as it pulled warm water from the ocean and hurled it onshore.

Storm surges, flash floods and winds scattered destruction widely across the states and the Marines, the Coast Guard, civilian crews and volunteers used helicopters, boats and heavy-duty vehicles to conduct rescues yesterday.

The death toll from the hurricaneturned-tropical storm climbed to 12.

Florence also caused a 1530 cubic metre slope of coal ash to collapse at a closed power station near the North Carolina coast.

Forecasters warned that rivers were swelling toward record levels and thousands of people were ordered to evacuate.

Authorities ordered the immediate evacuation of up to 7500 people living within 1.6km of a stretch of the Cape Fear River and the Little River, about 160km from the North Carolina coast. The evacuation zone included part of the city of Fayetteville, population 200,000.

More than 60cm of rain had fallen in North Carolina by yesterday afternoon, and forecasters said there could be another 45cm by the end of today. Florence was also causing flooding in South Carolina and southwestern Virginia.