Florence inundates Carolinas
Buildings splintered, hundreds trapped by plodding hurricane
Volunteers help rescue three children from their flooded home Friday in James City, N.C. Hurricane Florence made landfall as a Category 1 storm and is blamed for four deaths. Story on
WILMINGTON, N.C. — Blowing ashore with howling 90-mph winds, Hurricane Florence splintered buildings, trapped hundreds of people and swamped entire communities along the Carolina coast Friday in what could be just the opening act in a watery, twopart, slow-motion disaster. At least four people were killed.
Forecasters warned that drenching rains of 1 to 3½ feet as the storm crawls westward across North and South Carolina could trigger epic flooding well inland over the next few days. Thousands without power
As 400-mile-wide Florence pounded away at the coast with torrential downpours and surging seas, rescue crews used boats to reach more than 360 people besieged by rising waters in New Bern, while many of their neighbors awaited help. More than 60 people had to be rescued in another town as a cinderblock motel collapsed at the height of the storm’s fury.
Florence flattened trees, crumbled roads and knocked out power to more than three-quarters of a million homes and businesses.
“It’s an uninvited brute who doesn’t want to leave,” said North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper.
A mother and baby were killed when a tree fell on a house, according to a tweet from Wilmington police. Also, a 77-year-old man was apparently knocked down by the wind and died after going out to check on his hunting dogs, Lenoir County authorities said, and the governor’s office said a man was electrocuted while trying to connect extension cords in the rain.
Shaken after seeing waves crashing on the Neuse River just outside his house in New Bern, restaurant owner and hurricane veteran Tom Ballance wished he had evacuated.
“I feel like the dumbest human being who ever walked the face of the Earth,” he said.
After reaching a terrifying Category 4 peak of 140 mph earlier in the week, Florence made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane at 7:15 a.m. at Wrightsville Beach, a few miles east of Wilmington and not far from the South Carolina line. It came ashore along a mostly boarded-up, emptied-out stretch of coastline.
By Friday evening, Florence was downgraded to a tropical storm, its winds weakening to 70 mph as it pushed inland. But it was clear that this was really about the water, not the wind.
Florence’s forward movement during the day slowed to a nearstandstill — sometimes it was going no faster than a human can walk — and that enabled it to pile on the rain. The town of Oriental, N.C., got more than 20 inches just a few hours into the deluge. Other communities got well over a foot.
The flooding soon spread into South Carolina, swamping places like North Myrtle Beach. More flooding anticipated
For people living inland in the Carolinas, the moment of maximum peril from flash flooding could arrive days later, because it takes time for rivers and streams to crest.
Preparing for the worst, about 9,700 National Guard troops and civilians were deployed with highwater vehicles, helicopters and boats.
Authorities warned, too, of the threat of mudslides and the risk of an environmental disaster from floodwaters washing over industrial waste sites and hog farms.
Ashley Warren and boyfriend Chris Smith managed to paddle away from their home in a boat with their two dogs, and the experience left her shaken.
“Honestly, I grew up in Wilmington. I love hurricanes. But this one has been an experience for me,” she said. “We might leave.”