Flood warning: ‘sunshine doesn’t mean safety’
WILMINGTON: Rivers and waterways, swollen after Florence’s historic deluge, rose dangerously across the Carolinas yesterday, closing roads, inundating communities, hindering rescue and repair efforts and preventing evacuees from returning home.
Slowmoving, Florence has moved into the United States northeast, allowing glimpses of sunlight in the waterlogged state.
At least 16 rivers remained at a major flood stage and three others were set to crest in the coming days, the state said.
‘‘One thing we know is that sunshine doesn’t necessarily mean safety,’’ North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper told a lateafternoon press confer ence and warned the 15,000 residents living in shelters against returning home too soon.
More than 1100 roads were still closed across North Carolina, Cooper said, including several portions of Interstates 40 and 95.
Florence, which made landfall on Friday as a Category 1 hurricane before it was downgraded, has already killed at least 33 people, including 26 in North Carolina and six in South Carolina.
One person was killed in Virginia when the storm spawned some 16 tornadoes there on Monday, according to the National Weather Service.
The White House said President Donald Trump would visit North Carolina today. He was criticised for his handling of Hurricane Maria, which devastated Puerto Rico last year, and more recently for disputing the official death toll of 3000.
In the town of Fair Bluff, North Carolina, which has struggled to recover from the devastation of Hurricane Matthew in 2016, only about 50 residents remained yesterday, Fair Bluff Police Chief Chris Chafin said.
The town has largely been cut off by flooding from the stillrising Lumber River, which was expected to crest today.
The Cape Fear River was also expected to keep rising in Fayetteville, a city of 200,000 in the southern part of the state near the Fort Bragg army base, according to the National Weather Service. That has hampered efforts to restore power, clear roads and allow residents to homes.
Florence dumped more than 30 trillion litres of rain on North Carolina, the weather service said.
Thousands of rescues have taken place in the Carolinas, and more than 650 people were taken to safety in and around Wilmington, North Carolina, Barbi Baker, a spokeswoman for New Hanover County, said.
North Carolina estimated 3.4 million poultry birds and 5500 hogs died in the storm, exceeding the number killed in the state’s last major hurricane two years ago. — Reuters