Florence devastation far from over, US officials warn as ‘epic’ rain falls

NEW BERN, United States — Authorities on Saturday warned residents displaced by a killer hurricane that its devastation was far from over, as Florence dumped “epic amounts of rainfall” across the southeastern United States, bringing catastrophic flooding and up to 13 deaths.

Most of the fatalities occurred in North Carolina, where officials confirmed eight victims. They included three who died “due to flash flooding and swift water on roadways,” the Duplin County Sheriff’s Office reported. A woman and her baby were among the first casualties when a tree fell on their house, contributing to a death toll that US media said had reached 13 — 10 in North Carolina and three in South Carolina, according to CNN.

Florence made landfall Friday as a Category 1 hurricane but has since been downgraded to a tropical storm, even as it continued to wreak havoc along the East Coast, downing trees and power lines and forcing 20,000 people to flee to shelters. On Saturday some residents tried to return home, driving through flooded highways and armed with chainsaws to clear fallen pine trees that covered the road.

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper warned against such behavior as roads became increasingly dangerous. “All roads in the state right now are at risk of floods,” he said. “As rivers keep rising and rain keeps falling, the flooding will spread. More and more inland counties are issuing mandatory evacuations to get people to safety quickly.”

He earlier said the storm system “is unloading epic amounts of rainfall: in some places, measured in feet, not inches.”

In a separate briefing, Steve Goldstein of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said some areas have already received two feet of rain and could expect up to 20 inches more as the system moved “slowly, nearly stationary” over eastern North Carolina.

In New Bern, a riverfront city near the North Carolina coast that saw storm surges of up to 10 feet (three meters), residents took stock of the damage after flood waters began receding and authorities rescued hundreds of people who had been stranded. “We have 4,200 damaged homes,” Mayor Dana Outlaw told CNN.

President Donald Trump tweeted late Saturday that “five deaths have been recorded thus far,” and expressed sympathy to the victims’ families.

More than 800,000 customers in North Carolina were without power and 21,000 people were being housed in 157 shelters across the state.

The National Hurricane Center said “a few tornadoes are possible in southeastern North Carolina and northeastern South Carolina.”

About 1.7 million people in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia are under voluntary or mandatory evacuation orders. —