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Volunteers from the Civilian Crisis Response Team rescued three children from their flooded home in James City, North Carolina on September 14, 2018.(Photo: Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images)
SWAN QUARTER, NC – Hurricane Florence touched down Friday in North Carolina, causing heavy winds, heavy rains and record floods that prompted some residents to seek refuge in attics or upper floors of homes.
According to local police, a mother and her baby died after a tree fell in a house in Wilmington, North Carolina. The father was hospitalized for injuries.
In addition, a woman from Hampstead had a heart attack Friday morning, but emergency teams were unable to reach her before dying because of fallen trees on the road. ABC News reports.
A fourth person was killed by plugging a generator into Lenoir County, north of Wilmington, according to WITN-TV, citing the governor's office.
WITN said the county authorities were also investigating the death of a fifth person, a 78-year-old man whose body was found on a street outside Kinston. He was apparently destroyed after he went out to check his hunting dogs.
As the storm moved inland, forecasters warned that the rise could cover anything but a shine from the Carolina coast under 11 feet of seawater and that rainy days could unload more 3 feet of rain.
Meteorologist Ryan Maue of weathermodels.com estimates that Hurricane Florence is expected to spill 9.6 trillion gallons, enough rain to cover the state of Tar Heel in about 10 inches of water.
The National Weather Service says 14 to 15 inches of rain has already fallen north of Swansboro, North Carolina.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said the hurricane wreaked havoc on the coast and could destroy entire communities that were crossing our state for days. years.
"Hurricane Florence is powerful, slow and relentless," he said. "He's a non-invited brute who does not want to leave."
Director Tom Collins says Hampstead's wife had a heart attack Friday morning, but emergency teams were unable to reach her due to trees falling down the road. Collins says they have a front loader that they use to clear the roads, but a tree has gone through the windshield.
According to Mayor Dana Outlaw, in New Bern, North Carolina, where the rivers Neuse and Trent meet, about 200 people were saved after being stranded at home during the night. Another 150 people, including people trapped on the second floor of houses or attics, were waiting for a rescue.
"What is happening is that we are saving people and we are discovering that there are even more who need it," said Outlaw. "The people of New Bern have already experienced hurricanes, but we have not had this kind of situation for a long time."
The mayor said that at least 4,200 homes and 300 companies had been damaged by the floods.
"Things here are very, very serious," he said. "If you've ever doubted the destructive nature of a hurricane, what happens here will make you a believer."
Authorities have advised residents who have not evacuated to go to the highest point of their homes, call 911 for help, keep the batteries in their cellphones as best as possible and wait for help to arrive.
Hurricane Florence should not falter under the force of the hurricane before Saturday. The threat continues to be flooded in the Carolinas, with North Carolina being the most affected.
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According to WITN-TV, more than 60 people, including an infant, children and their pets, were rescued from a collapsing hotel in Jacksonville, North Carolina, at the height of the storm.
Breeze blocks that were part of the structure collapsed in some places and parts of the roof disappeared. Police and fire brigades broke into some rooms to release residents, who were temporarily taken to the city center for public safety.
Some 9,700 soldiers and civilians of the National Guard were deployed, with deep-sea vehicles, helicopters and boats.
"I see a biblical proportion of flooding that will occur," Wilmington police chief Ralph Evangelous told ABC News. "I see beach communities inundated with water and destruction that will be pretty, pretty epic."
At 2 o'clock in the afternoon. EDT, Florence, weakening to 5 mph inland, was 35 miles west-southwest of Wilmington and 35 miles east of Myrtle Beach in South Carolina.
According to poweroutage.us, more than 650,000 customers were without electricity in the Carolinas, as the eye of Hurricane Florence was stranded near Wilmington and began its slow trek along the coast .
National weather service forecasters said the storm would cross the coast at least two more days before reaching Colombia on Sunday morning in South Carolina. It was also expected that he would briefly slip into the open water during the trip.
"This storm will be a marathon vs. a sprint", the national weather service said on Twitter. "In addition to the dangerous storm surge and flash floods, this will be a long-term threat to the flooding of the WELL INLAND River, as heavy rains continue to fall in the coming days." & # 39;
NHC m said Florence was stranded near Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina at 7:15 am EDT with maximum winds estimated at 90 mph. Shortly after, the National Weather Service reported wind gusts at Wilmington International Airport at 105 mph, the highest gust of Wilmington since Hurricane Helene passed through the harbor city in 1958. .
The center indicated that the water level could reach 7 to 10 feet from Cape Fear to Cape Lookout (North Carolina) and 6 to 9 feet from Cape Lookout to Ocracoke Inlet.
Even with the raging storm, the Corps of Engineers of the Army is prepared to begin work to restore power, install a temporary roof and remove debris.
While thousands of people have chosen to flee the coast, others have stopped. Gigi Charlebois, owner of Edenton's cafe on the north shore of Albemarle Sound, North Carolina, decided to spend the night in the store's dining room, sleeping on sofas, rollaway beds and a mattress.
She said that the store, with an electric generator, was safer than their neighboring home.
"It's dangerous, a lot of trees," said Charlebois. "So, even if it was just a tropical storm and the trees broke down, we would have a hard time getting here."
Staying there also allowed him to keep an eye on their freezers and refrigerators holding food. In addition, they would be there in the morning if the first responders needed it.
"That's why we opened an hour later because we had to clean all our bedding," said Charlebois while standing in the dining room.
A motorist travels through a flooded area of Swan Quarter Harbor, in the Swan area of North Carolina. (Photo: Asheville Citizen Times via USA TODAY NETWORK)
Tracker: Follow the path of Hurricane Florence
More: Hurricane Florence: What we know Friday morning
More: Meanwhile Florence: Tales of the first lines of a hurricane approaching
The National Hurricane Center said that the storm would move farther inland through the far southeast of North Carolina and the far east of South Carolina on Friday. and Saturday. Florence will then generally move north through the West Carolinas and Central Appalachians early next week.
Contribute: The Associated Press; Joey Gill and Sean Rossman
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