"I did everything I could": Mother remembers that her son was washed away by floods in North Carolina



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It has stopped raining in the Carolinas, but the remains of Hurricane Florence continue to create dangers. The bloated Cape Fear River reached nearly 58 feet on Monday and should soon reach its peak. CBS News says DeMarco Morgan, of CBS News, is already causing flooding in downtown Fayetteville, North Carolina, mostly under water.

Resident of Hope Mills, Brandon Plotnick, worries about the ridge of the Cape Fear River.

"I think people are becoming complacent and it's dangerous," Plotnick said. "It's a lot of water and this water has to go somewhere."

The rescues continued Monday in North Carolina. Crews used boats to help evacuate Lumberton residents trapped by floods.

"I thought we were fine until last night, when the water kept going up and down," said a Lumberton resident.

The Lumber River at Lumberton is on the ridge and will not descend below the major flood stage until at least next week. It is this same river that caused all the massive floods during Hurricane Matthew.

"Our biggest threat here in the region is the rise of the Lumber River," said Matthew Locklear, Pembroke Police Rescue Commander.

The death toll in Florence has almost doubled on Monday as water rises. Florence unleashed a tornado that killed at least one person on Monday in Virginia when the warehouse collapsed. This storm system is now throwing rain on the northeast.

Dazia Lee Kaiden Lee-Welch, a 14-month-old son, was killed after being washed away by the precipitous floods in Union County Sunday night. Kaiden's body was found on Monday.

"I held his hand, trying to hold him back, trying to pull him up and I got to a point where I could not hold him anymore and he let go," Lee said. "I did everything I could from the moment I was pregnant to the moment I lost it. As a parent, I did everything I could. to save him and protect him. "

It is expected that the Cape Fear River will peak later today or Wednesday, but the river will not descend below the flood level until at least Saturday. The rain may have arrived here, but Florence's handle is not there.

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