Slow moving Florence terrorizing Carolinas
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — Florence, now a tropical storm, swirled at a near-standstill over the Carolinas on Saturday, dumping non-stop rain over areas already flooded by seawater and swelling rivers and creeks across both states.
Some towns have already been soaked by more than 2 feet (60 centimeters) of drenching rains , and forecasters warned that totals could reach 3½ feet (1 meter), unleashing floods well inland through early next week. At least four people have died, a toll authorities fear will rise as the storm crawls westward across South Carolina.
At 8 a.m. Saturday, Florence stalled about 35 miles (55 kilometers) west of Myrtle Beach, moving forward at just 2 mph (4 kph), with top sustained winds of 50 mph (80 kph).
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper called Florence an “uninvited brute” that could wipe out entire communities as it grinds its way across land.
“The fact is this storm is deadly and we know we are days away from an ending,” Cooper said.
With tropical storm-force winds swirling 350 miles (560 kilometers) wide, Florence continued deluging the Carolinas on Saturday morning after pushing surging seas far ashore. Rescue crews used boats to carry more than 360 people from rising water in the river town of New Bern, North Carolina, while many of their neighbors awaited help. Dozens more were pulled from a collapsed motel.
Florence flattened trees, buckled buildings and crumpled roads. The storm knocked out power to nearly 930,000 homes and businesses, and the number could keep rising.
A mother and baby were killed when a tree fell on a house, according to a tweet from Wilmington police. 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. The governor’s office said a man was electrocuted while trying to connect extension cords in the rain.
Storm surges — the bulge of ocean water pushed ashore by the hurricane — were as high as 10 feet (3 meters).
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.
Florence peaked at a terrifying Category 4 with top winds of 140 mph (225 kph) over warm ocean water before making landfall as a Category 1 hurricane at 7:15 a.m. at Wrightsville Beach, a few miles (kilometers) east of Wilmington and not far from the South Carolina line. It blew ashore along a mostly boarded-up, emptied-out stretch of coastline.
But it was clear that this was really about the water, not the wind.
Morehead City, North Carolina, had received 23 inches (58 centimeters) of rain by Friday night, and forecasters warned Saturday morning that parts of the Carolinas could get up to 15 inches (38 centimeters) more.
At times, Florence was moving forward no faster than a human can walk, and it has remained such a wide storm that its counter-clockwise winds keep scooping up massive amounts of moisture from the sea. The flooding began on barrier islands in North Carolina and then spread into coastal and river communities there and in South Carolina, swamping the white sands and golf courses in North Myrtle Beach.
For people living inland in the Carolinas, maximum peril could come days later as all that water drains, overflowing rivers and causing flash floods.
Authorities warned, too, of risks of mudslides and environmental disasters from floodwaters washing over industrial waste sites and hog farms.
About 9,700 National Guard troops and civilians were deployed with high-water vehicles, helicopters and boats.
Florence could become a major test for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which was heavily criticized as slow and unprepared last year for Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, where the death toll was put at nearly 3,000.
The hurricane center said the storm will eventually break up over the southern Appalachians and make a right hook to the northeast, its rainy remnants moving into the mid-Atlantic states and New England by the middle of next week.
Meteorologist Ryan Maue of weathermodels.com calculated that Florence could dump a staggering 18 trillion gallons (68 trillion liters) of rain over a week on North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky and Maryland. That’s enough to fill the Chesapeake Bay, or cover the entire state of Texas with nearly 4 inches (10 centimeters) of water.
North Carolina alone is forecast to get 9.6 trillion gallons (36 trillion liters), enough to cover the Tar Heel state to a depth of about 10 inches (25 centimeters).
In Jacksonville, North Carolina, next to Camp Lejeune, firefighters and police fought wind and rain as they went door to door to pull more than 60 people out as the Triangle Motor Inn began to crumble.
In New Bern, population 29,000, flooding on the Neuse River left 500 people in peril.
“WE ARE COMING TO GET YOU,” the city tweeted during the height of the storm. “You may need to move up to the second story, or to your attic, but WE ARE COMING TO GET YOU.”
Boat teams including volunteers rescued some 360 residents, including Sadie Marie Holt, 67, who first tried to row out of her neighborhood during Florence’s assault.
“The wind was so hard, the waters were so hard … We got thrown into mailboxes, houses, trees,” said Holt, who had stayed at home because of a doctor’s appointment that was later canceled. She was eventually rescued by a boat crew; 140 more awaited help.
Ashley Warren and boyfriend Chris Smith managed to paddle away from their home in a boat with their two dogs, and were left shaken.
“Honestly, I grew up in Wilmington. I love hurricanes. But this one has been an experience for me,” she said. “We might leave.”
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Associated Press writers Seth Borenstein in Washington; Allen G. Breed in New Bern, North Carolina; Jeffrey Collins in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Jennifer Kay in Miami; Tamara Lush in Jacksonville, Florida; Gary Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina; Sarah Rankin and Denise Lavoie in Richmond, Virginia; Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina; Skip Foreman in Charlotte, North Carolina; Jeff Martin in Hampton, Georgia; David Koenig in Dallas; Gerry Broome at Nags Head, North Carolina; and Jay Reeves in Atlanta contributed to this report.
Residents at Trent Court Apartments wait out the weather as rising water gets closer to their doors in New Bern, N.C. Thursday, Sept. 13, 2018. Hurricane Florence already has inundated coastal streets with ocean water and left tens of thousands without power, and more is to come. (Gray Whitley/Sun Journal via AP)
Flooding caused by Hurricane Florence covers blocks of Front Street in downtown New Bern, N.C., Friday, Sept. 14, 2018. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)
Union Point Park is flooded with rising water from the Neuse and Trent Rivers in New Bern, N.C. Thursday, Sept. 13, 2018. Hurricane Florence already has inundated coastal streets with ocean water and left tens of thousands without power, and more is to come. (Gray Whitley/Sun Journal via AP)
UPDATED THU 5 A.M. Map shows probable path of Hurricane Florence. ; 1c x 2 1/2 inches; 46.5 mm x 63 mm;
This enhanced satellite image made available by NOAA shows Hurricane Florence off the eastern coast of the United States on Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2018 at 5:52 p.m. EDT. (NOAA via AP)
Waves from Hurricane Florence pound the Bogue Inlet Pier in Emerald Isle N.C., Thursday, Sept. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/Tom Copeland)
Russ Lewis covers his eyes from a gust of wind and a blast of sand as Hurricane Florence approaches Myrtle Beach, S.C., Friday, Sept. 14, 2018. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
High winds and storm surge from Hurricane Florence hits Swansboro N.C.,Friday, Sept. 14, 2018. (AP Photo/Tom Copeland)
Russ Lewis looks for shells along the beach as Hurricane Florence approaches Myrtle Beach, S.C., Friday, Sept. 14, 2018. “I woke up this morning and couldn’t hear the ocean. It’s kind of spooky,” said Lewis. “You don’t expect to see the ocean this calm.” (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Russ Lewis looks for shells along the beach as Hurricane Florence approaches Myrtle Beach, S.C., Friday, Sept. 14, 2018. “We might get lucky we might not we’ll find out,” said Lewis of the storm. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
In this photo released by the New Bern Police department, flood waters move near buildings in downtown New Bern, N.C. on Friday, Sept. 14, 2018 as Hurricane Florence comes ashore. (New Bern Police Department via AP)
In this photo provided by Jordan Guthrie, wind and water from Hurricane Florence damages the highway leading off Harkers Island, N.C. on Friday, Sept. 14, 2018. (Jordan Guthrie via AP)
A woman removes debris from a road in Wilmington, N.C., after Hurricane Florence made landfall Friday, Sept. 14, 2018. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
A tree uprooted by strong winds lies across a street in Wilmington, N.C., after Hurricane Florence made landfall Friday, Sept. 14, 2018. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
A tree uprooted by strong winds lies across a street in Wilmington, N.C., after Hurricane Florence made landfall Friday, Sept. 14, 2018. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
In this photo released by the City of New Bern, N.C., a bear statue floats in flood waters on South Front street in New Bern, N.C. on Friday, Sept. 14, 2018. Hurricane Florence lumbered ashore in North Carolina with howling 90 mph winds and terrifying storm surge early Friday, ripping apart buildings and knocking out power to a half-million homes and businesses as it settled in for what could be a long and extraordinarily destructive drenching. (City of New Bern via AP)
Ethan Hall, right, Michael Jenkins, center, and Nash Fralick, left, examine damage to Tidewater Brewing Co. in Wilmington, N.C., after Hurricane Florence made landfall Friday, Sept. 14, 2018. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
Part of the roof of Tidewater Brewing Co. lies on the ground in Wilmington, N.C., after Hurricane Florence made landfall Friday, Sept. 14, 2018. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
This photo provided by Angie Propst, shows a boat wedged in trees during Hurricane Florence in Oriental, N.C, one of nine incorporated municipalities in Pamlico County, Friday, Sept. 14, 2018. (Angie Propst via AP)
Emmett Marshall, 4, from Norfolk, Va. wades in floodwaters, Friday, Sept. 14, 2018, in the Larchmont area of Norfolk, Va., as the effects of Hurricane Florence are felt. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
A message on a boarded-up business encourages people to be safe as Hurricane Florence hits downtown New Bern, N.C., on Friday, Sept. 14, 2018. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)
People walk through floodwaters caused by Hurricane Florence in downtown New Bern, N.C., on Friday, Sept. 14, 2018. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)
Teddie Davis goes to check on one of the town’s signature bears that was toppled by Hurricane Florence in downtown New Bern, N.C., on Friday, Sept. 14, 2018. Another one of the bears ended up in the middle of the street in the background. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)
Debris from Hurricane Florence covers a street in downtown New Bern, N.C., on Friday, Sept. 14, 2018. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)