North Carolina devastated as floodwaters rise
More than 900 rescued and 15,000 remained in shelters in the state, Governor Cooper says
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This is a completely false allegation. I have never done anything like what the accuser describes — to her or to anyone.”
Deadly storm Florence drenched North Carolina with more downpours on Sunday, 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 17. Florence, a one-time hurricane that weakened to a tropical depression by Sunday, dumped up to 40 inches (100cm) 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 today, 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.
Many of those rescues took place on swift boats in Wilmington, a historic coastal city of about 117,000 people on a peninsula between the Cape Fear River and the Atlantic Ocean.
Rescue crews negotiated downed trees and power lines to reach stranded residents, Mayor Bill Saffo told WHQR radio.
“There are no roads ... that are leading into Wilmington that are passable because of the flooding that is taking place now inland,” Saffo said.
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Flash flood warning
The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for the area and said up to 8 inches (20cm) more rain could fall in some areas, creating an elevated risk for landslides in Western North Carolina.
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 Leland, a lowlying city north of Wilmington, homes and businesses were engulfed by water that rose up to 10 feet (3 metres) over Highway 17, submerging stop signs in what local people called unprecedented flooding.
The sheriff’s department and volunteers, including locals and some who came from Texas, rescued stranded residents by boat, extracting families, infants, the elderly and pets.