Florence's death reaches 32 years as rivers continue to flow into N.C. and S.C .: NPR

Updated at 20:40 ET

Residents of North Carolina and South Carolina face floods, closed roads and power outages as they assess the damage caused by the post-tropical cyclone Florence.

"Florence is becoming a more and more elongated low pressure zone, as it continues to produce heavy rain and parts of the Mid-Atlantic region," according to an NHC poll at 5 pm. AND.

"Catastrophic floods continue over the Carolinas, while flash floods may occur in parts of Delmarva, Pennsylvania," the statement said.

The storm is accused of at least 32 deaths, according to officials quoted by the Associated Press. Twenty-four of them were in North Carolina.

According to the National Weather Service, potentially life-threatening floods are expected to continue throughout the week.

In Virginia, a person was killed as a result of a tornado associated with Florence, said the Chesterfield County Fire Department at the local WHSV station.

The tragic record of North Carolina concerns a young infant who died in Union County. Kaiden Lee-Welch, 1, was swept away by her mother, whose car had been washed away by the floods. The local sheriff's office said that Kaiden's mother apparently circulated around the barricades on Highway 218. A lengthy search and rescue operation recovered the boy's body on Monday.

Especially in eastern North Carolina, the conditions "remain extremely dangerous," Cooper said. He added, "Do not drive around the barricades, we see that happen now, and the result is not good."

For many cities in the state, "the danger is still immediate," said Cooper, despite the promise to clear the sky as rainy weather begins to emerge from the state.

In an advisory, North Carolina officials warn that road conditions are still deteriorating.

"Although the storm has passed in some areas, travel conditions across the state are deteriorating as the waters continue to increase and trees fall due to soil saturation.

"In addition, GPS navigation companies do not follow all road closures and direct people on roads that are confirmed closed and flooded.

"NCDOT maintenance crews assess roads according to weather conditions and the number of road closures is expected to increase."

"Nearly two dozen cities and counties have imposed curfews for their neighborhoods, warning residents of the dangers of driving on flooded roads at night," said Sarah McCammon of NPR.

Emergency crews saved 2,600 people and more than 300 animals, Cooper said. He added that there are currently more than 14,000 evacuees in shelters in his state.

If we look at the whole disaster, Moody's Analytics estimates the cost of the damage caused by Hurricane Florence between $ 17 billion and $ 22 billion, making it one of the 10 hurricanes the more expensive in the history of the United States. The bulk of this figure relates to the loss of property; the loss of economic output is between $ 1 billion and $ 2 billion of the total.

The Duke Energy Nuclear Generating Station in Brunswick declared a state of emergency because the 1,200-acre complex remains isolated by floodwater and inaccessible to outside personnel.

The two-engine plant is located about 30 miles south of Wilmington and 4 miles inland. It is stable and does not threaten public safety, according to Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Joey Ledford. The installation has off-site electricity grid to cool nuclear reactors and radioactive nuclear waste on the site.

Increasing environmental problems have been reported as floodwaters have submerged coal ash dumps and low-lying hog farms. As the Associated Press reports:

Environmental regulators in North Carolina claim that several outdoor manure pits on hog farms have failed, causing pollution.The authorities have also monitored the threat of a breach in a Duke Energy ash dump near of Wilmington.

Environment Department Secretary Michael Regan said on Monday that the earth dam in a pork lagoon in Duplin County had been broken. There were also seven reports of lagoon levels passing over their summits or being flooded in Jones and Pender counties. "

In Pollocksville, N.C., a New York City Work Team Helps residents in distress by using boats to patrol streets that have become waterways.

On Monday afternoon, the North Carolina Transportation Department reported about 1,200 road closures – including highways 95 and 40, many highways and other major roads in North Carolina – due to flooding and flooding. debris from Florence ". department. Road closures complicate relief efforts and frustrate evacuees who have sought to return to coastal areas.

Parts of I-95 have also been closed in South Carolina, as well as a number of roads in the eastern part of the state. S.C. DOT reports more than 150 road closures related to high floods.

About 389,889 customers in North Carolina Monday afternoon and 10,000 in South Carolina are without electricity. Many schools remain closed or have delayed opening hours – prolonging a disturbance that began in many places last Tuesday when evacuation orders took effect.

The images of beaches along the coastline show devastated dunes – their sand stretches flat on the streets and yards. In a striking phototwo houses had remained standing on their stilts – but the dunes before them disappeared.

Thousands of people are in shelters in North Carolina. More than 2 feet of rain fell in some areas and many rivers have not yet reached their peak on Monday, as they struggle to cope with four days of heavy rains due to the massive Category 1 hurricane.

"Most of the rivers in the central part of the country will be flooded," Raleigh's national office said on Monday, adding that "Neuse, Cape Fear, Haw, Deep, Rocky and Little rivers are currently in flood."

The Cape Fear River in Fayetteville is expected to reach a peak height of nearly 62 feet – well above the 59 feet it hit during Hurricane Matthew in 2016.

Hundreds of thousands of people have obeyed evacuation orders along the Carolina coast. Some of them tried to return home on Sunday to find themselves blocked by closed roads, while the streams and rivers continued to flow.

"Due to flooding in the south, center and east of the country," the state transport agency told motorists that "they should not cross these parts of the State ".

At Kinston, where water has invaded the shores of the Neuse River in the eastern city of North Carolina, a crowd of people gathered on Riverbank Road to observe the modified landscape of Neuseway Nature Park.

"A lot of water, like, you can not see the swings anymore," said Lashieka Becton, describing the NPR Brakkton Booker scene. "You can not see the parking anymore, just … I do not know what to think."

At Mother Earth Brewing, educators Tori and Wes Hazelgrove told Brakkton that they were tired of this storm.

"We are just in a period of waiting to see how bad it is," said Wes Hazelgrove, who said he has spent days preparing for the storm. "It's like a period of silence."

Some officials have begun to advise the public on a possible turnaround and the potential for price increases by people offering to help flood victims

District Attorney Ben David said the court could impose civil penalties of up to $ 5,000 for each offense.

"These people who come to our community are usually from elsewhere, they came specifically for the storm, and frankly we need their help, and many are good people, not all of them." Ask your neighbor who they used and their experience, "he said.

In South Carolina, Governor Henry McMaster has lifted all evacuation orders for the state, but residents are still facing delays and detours as they try to find roads to take them home.

Florence's death rises to 32 years as rivers continue to flow to N.C. and S.C.

Outside Myrtle Beach, part of the busy 501 highway was reopened early Monday. But closer to the coast, the work crews hoped that a flood barrier would make the road – or at least half – harmless.

On Monday, President Trump declared a major disaster in South Carolina, listing eight counties: Berkeley, Charleston, Dorchester, Georgetown, Horry, Marion, Orangeburg and Williamsburg.

The president had already issued a similar statement for North Carolina, facilitating the flow of federal aid to states. Cooper said 18 counties in North Carolina have been declared disaster areas, and they are more likely to follow.

Ruben Kimmelman contributed to this report.