Florence floods: floodwaters multiply in North Carolina

The Buies Creek Fire Department reported that a mandatory evacuation was in place for all structures on the Keith Hills Subdivision in Lillington.

Many rivers across the state have been seen overflowing as the tropical depression of Florence crosses the state.

NC waters continue to rise

As hundreds of people were removed from the flooded homes, North Carolina is preparing for what could be the next stage of a disaster still underway: catastrophic and widespread floods.

Water courses are reaching record levels, warn forecasters, and thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate, fearing that the next few days will bring about the most destructive floods in the world. history of North Carolina.

The gauges of the rivers in the area showed that water levels were rising steadily, with predictions that the rivers would reach the peaks on Sunday and Monday: the Little River, Cape Fear, the woods, the Neuse, the Waccam should burst their banks, possibly flooding neighboring communities.

The authorities ordered the immediate evacuation of 7,500 people living within one kilometer of a stretch of the Cape Fear River and Little River, about 100 miles from the Carolina coast. North. The evacuation zone included parts of Fayetteville.

John Rose owns a furniture business with stores less than one kilometer from the river. Rain-soaked furniture workers helped him quickly empty more than 1,000 mattresses from a warehouse in a low-rise shopping center.

"It's the first time we have to move something like this," Rose said. "If the river rises to the level it says, then this warehouse will be under water."

On US Highway 401, nearby, rains increased in ditches and around unharvested tobacco crops along the road. The ponds began to overflow and streams running under the road beat muddy and brown waters. Further along, along the Cape Fear River, grass and trees along the shores were partially submerged, still far below a road bridge crossing it.

"It's hard to believe that it will reach that level," says Elizabeth Machado, who came to the bridge to check the river.

City of Fayetteville officials have been assisted by the Nebraska Task Force One search and rescue team to evacuate some 140 residents from a Fayetteville help center to a safer location in a church.

Already, more than 2 feet of rain have fallen in places, and forecasters have said that there could be an extra 1 foot before the end of Sunday.

"I can not exaggerate: flood waters are rising, and if you do not watch them, you risk your life," Governor Roy Cooper said.

At 11 pm, Florence was about 40 miles east-southeast of Columbia, South Carolina, crawling west at 3 mph (6 km / h) – not even at foot. His winds had dropped to 40 mph (75 km / h).

In Goldsboro, North Carolina, where the Seymour Johnson Air Base is located, the frequently flooded roads were already closed Saturday by fountains. Dozens of electric repair trucks have massed to respond to the expected damage in central North Carolina as the rainwater collected in the rivers was heading towards the coast. Hundreds of thousands of failures have been reported.

A stream that flows into the Neuse rushed down a road near Phil Eubanks's house on Saturday. Another stream receded in his basement Friday, but according to past experience, Eubanks and his wife think the worst is over for them.

"I did not sleep last night, he climbed those steps" from the basement, said his nervous wife, Ellen. "He came in. He fell today, I think we're fine."

Watch: Evacuee family seek refuge in Harnett County

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On Saturday night, Duke Energy said the heavy rains caused a slope collapse in a coal ash dump at a closed power plant on the outskirts of Wilmington, North Carolina. Duke spokeswoman Paige Sheehan said that about 1,530 cubic meters of ash were moved to the Sutton plant and that the contaminated stormwater probably dumped into the cooling basin of the site. l & # 39; plant.

Sutton was put on hold in 2013 and the company excavated ashes to remove them to safer landfills. The ashes left by burning coal contain toxic heavy metals, including lead and arsenic.

In New Bern, along the coast, the houses were completely surrounded by water and the rescuers used rubber boats to reach the inhabitants on Saturday.

Kevin Knox and his family were rescued by boat from their flooded brick house with the help of the Sgt of the Army. Johan Mackie, whose team used a phone application to locate people in distress.

"Amazing, they did great," said Knox, who was stuck with seven other people, including a boy in a lifejacket.

New Bern spokeswoman Colleen Roberts said 455 people were safely saved in the city of 30,000. She called the damage to thousands of "heartbreaking" buildings.

On the other side of the Trent River, from New Bern, Jerry and Jan Andrews returned home after evacuating to find carp in their garden near the stairs.

Coast Guard helicopters took off across the street to rescue stranded people from flooded roofs and cars.

The Marines rescued some 20 civilians from floodwaters near Camp Lejeune, using Humvees and amphibious assault vehicles, the base reported.

Among the dead were a mother and a baby killed by a tree falling in Wilmington, North Carolina. South Carolina recorded its first death following the storm, with officials saying that a 61-year-old woman had been killed when her car hit a fallen tree on a highway.

Three people died in a county inland, in Duplin, because of water on the roads and flash floods, authorities said. A husband and his wife died in the fire of a storm-related house, officials said, and an 81-year-old man died after falling while packing his suitcase to evacuate.