Storm surge could cover US state with high waves
wilmington (US) — Hurricane Florence crashed into the Carolinas on Friday with 144 kmph winds, torrential rains and a powerful storm surge before slowing to a pace that meant it would plague the area with days of flooding.
The hurricane’s storm surge — the wall of water it pushed in from the Atlantic — had “overwhelmed” New Bern, a town of about 30,000 people next to the Neuse River, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said.
“The sun rose this morning on an extremely dangerous situation and it’s going to get worse,” he said at a news conference in Raleigh. “To those in the storm’s path, if you can hear me, please stay sheltered in place.”
Cooper said Florence would “continue its violent grind across the state for days.”
No storm-related deaths or serious injuries were reported in the hours immediately after Florence hit but authorities said more than 60 people, including many children and pets, had to be evacuated from a hotel in Jacksonville, North Carolina, after strong winds caused parts of the roof to collapse.
Cooper said Florence was set to cover almost all of the state in several feet of water.
Meanwhile, the Philippines raised its storm alert on Friday and warned of major destruction, hours before Super Typhoon Mangkhut was due to make landfall with fierce winds and drenching rains.
Thousands have already fled their homes on the Philippines’ northern coastal tip ahead of the early Saturday arrival of what forecasters have called the strongest typhoon yet this year. —
wilmington — Hurricane Florence already has inundated coastal streets with ocean water and left tens of thousands without power, and forecasters say that “catastrophic” freshwater flooding is expected over portions of the Carolinas as Hurricane Florence inches closer to the US East Coast.
The National Hurricane Center said on Friday that Florence’s eyewall is beginning to approach the North Carolina coast bringing with it life-threatening storm surge.
The centre said that a gauge in Emerald Isle, North Carolina, recently reported 1.92 metre of inundation. Emerald Isle is 135km north of Wilmington.
And about 46 miles north of Emerald Isle in New Bern about 150 people were waiting to be rescued from rising flood waters, WXII-TV reported.
Screaming winds bent trees toward the ground and raindrops flew sideways as Florence’s leading edge whipped the Carolina coast to begin an onslaught that could last for days, leaving a wide area under water from both downpours and rising seas.
“The worst of the storm is not yet here but these are early warnings of the days to come,” he said. “Surviving this storm will be a test
of endurance, teamwork, common sense and patience.”
More than 80,000 people were already without power as the storm began buffeting the coast, and more than 12,000 were in shelters. Another 400 people were in shelters in Virginia, where forecasts were less dire. Prisoners were affected, too. North Carolina corrections officials said more than 3,000 people were relocated from
adult prisons and juvenile centers in the path of Florence, and more than 300 county prisoners were transferred to state facilities. Officials said some 1.7 million people in the Carolinas and Virginia were warned to evacuate, but it’s unclear how many did.
The homes of about 10 million were under watches or warnings for the hurricane or tropical storm conditions.