Articles by "Wilmington"
Wilmington, Sep 15: A woman and her baby were killed when a tree fell on their house and several more storm-related deaths were reported Friday as Hurricane Florence slammed into the Carolinas, dousing the eastern US states with torrential rain and causing rivers to burst their banks.
Four deaths were confirmed by officials as US media reported another.
Hundreds of people needed to be rescued after becoming trapped in their homes by a storm surge of up to 10 feet (three meters) in New Bern, a town of 30,000 in North Carolina at the confluence of the Trent and Neuse rivers.
As of 8:00 pm (0000 GMT), Florence was downgraded to a tropical storm by the National Hurricane Center (NHC) but authorities warned the danger was far from over, predicting "life-threatening storm surges and strong winds" would persist through the night.
"We are expecting several more days of rain," North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said, describing the amount of rainfall from the hurricane as a "1,000-year event." "Into next week our rivers are going to continue to rise and there will be more significant flooding," Cooper said.
There had been three confirmed deaths from the storm and several others were being investigated to determine if they were storm-related, he said.
The mother and her baby were killed in New Hanover County when a tree fell on their house, the governor said, while confirming another death in Lenoir County.
Local authorities reported a death in Pender County when downed trees prevented emergency units from reaching a woman with a medical condition. Local media said she had suffered a heart attack.
US media later said a second man in Lenoir County died after heavy winds knocked him down as he tried to check on his dogs.
"This storm is going to continue its violent grind across our state for days," Cooper said. "The storm is wreaking havoc on our state." More than 760,000 customers in North Carolina were without power and 21,000 people were being housed in 157 shelters across the state.
The White House said President Donald Trump was to visit hurricane-hit areas next week "once it is determined his travel will not disrupt any rescue or recovery efforts."
As of 8:00 pm (local time), maximum sustained winds had weakened to 70 miles per hour but the NHC warned Carolina residents to be alert for life-threatening storm surges and "catastrophic freshwater flooding." "Flash flooding will be extreme and flood waters will come up quickly and seemingly out of nowhere," the governor said.
"We're deeply concerned for whole communities which could be wiped away." Some of the worst flooding was in New Bern, where authorities were enforcing a curfew.
Both the Trent and Neuse rivers overflowed their banks, flooding homes, stores and streets and trapping many people in their houses.
"WE ARE COMING TO GET YOU. You may need to move up to the second story, or to your attic, but WE ARE COMING TO GET YOU," the authorities in New Bern said on Twitter.
Governor Cooper said there have been "several hundred" rescue operations and "there are still some people they need to get to." Besides federal and state emergency crews, rescuers were being helped by volunteers from the "Cajun Navy" who also turned up in Houston during Hurricane Harvey to carry out water rescues.
Hurricane Florence made landfall as a Category 1 storm at 7:15 am (local time) in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, after stalking the Carolina coast for days.
The NHC described Florence as a "slow mover" and said it had the potential to dump historic amounts of rain on North and South Carolina, as much as 40 inches (one meter) in some places.
"This is not the end of it," said Jeff Byard, associate administrator for response and recovery at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
He said "24 to 36 hours remain for significant threats" from heavy rain, storm surge and flooding.
A tornado watch was issued for eastern North Carolina.
In Wilmington, near where the eye of the hurricane touched down, trees and power lines were felled and many windows had been broken. The streets were mostly deserted and some were blocked by fallen trees.
The city awoke Friday to the sound of exploding electrical transformers with strong gusts of wind throwing street signs and other debris as well as water in all directions.
In Wilmington, Mason Tarr said he spent the night at a friend's house but didn't sleep well.
"Our house is on high ground so we're not worried about the flooding," he said. "But there are a lot of big trees around so we preferred to spend the night at a friends to be sure.
"We're out of power so we spent the first few hours of the day playing board games with candles," he said.
About 1.7 million people in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia are under voluntary or mandatory evacuation orders, and millions of others live in areas likely to be affected by the storm. (AFP)
Wilmington (US) Sept 15: A woman and her baby were killed when a tree fell on their house and at least two other storm-related deaths were reported Friday as Hurricane Florence slammed into the Carolinas, dousing the eastern US states with torrential rain and causing rivers to burst their banks.
Hundreds of people needed to be rescued after becoming trapped in their homes by a storm surge of up to three meters in New Bern, a town of 30,000 in North Carolina at the confluence of the Trent and Neuse rivers.
At 2100 GMT, Florence was downgraded to a tropical storm by the National Hurricane Center (NHC) but authorities warned the danger was far from over.
"We are expecting several more days of rain," North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said, describing the amount of rainfall from the hurricane as a "1,000-year event."
"Into next week our rivers are going to continue to rise and there will be more significant flooding," Cooper said.
He said there had been three confirmed deaths from the storm and several others were being investigated to determine if they were storm-related.
The mother and her baby were killed in New Hanover County when a tree fell on their house, the governor said, and one person died in Lenoir County while plugging in a generator.
Local authorities reported another death, in Pender County, when downed trees prevented emergency units from reaching a woman with a medical condition.
Local media said she had suffered a heart attack.
US media said a fifth death may have occurred when a man tried to connect two extension cords in the rain.
"This storm is going to continue its violent grind across our state for days," Cooper said.
"The storm is wreaking havoc on our state." More than 680,000 customers in North Carolina were without power and 21,000 people were being housed in 157 shelters across the state.
The White House said President Donald Trump was to visit hurricane-hit areas next week "once it is determined his travel will not disrupt any rescue or recovery efforts."
As of 2100 GMT, maximum sustained winds had weakened to 110 kilometers per hour but the NHC warned Carolina residents to be alert for life-threatening storm surges and "catastrophic freshwater flooding."
"Flash flooding will be extreme and flood waters will come up quickly and seemingly out of nowhere," the governor said.
"We're deeply concerned for whole communities which could be wiped away." Some of the worst flooding was in New Bern, where authorities were enforcing a curfew.
Both the Trent and Neuse rivers overflowed their banks, flooding homes, stores and streets and trapping many people in their houses.
"WE ARE COMING TO GET YOU. You may need to move up to the second story, or to your attic, but WE ARE COMING TO GET YOU," the authorities in New Bern said on Twitter.
Governor Cooper said there have been "several hundred" rescue operations and "there are still some people they need to get to."
Besides federal and state emergency crews, rescuers were being helped by volunteers from the so-called "Cajun Navy" who also turned up in Houston during Hurricane Harvey to carry out water rescues.
Hurricane Florence made landfall as a Category 1 storm at 1115 GMT in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, after stalking the Carolina coast for days.
The NHC described Florence as a "slow mover" and said it had the potential to dump historic amounts of rain on North and South Carolina, as much as one meter in some places.
"This is not the end of it," said Jeff Byard, associate administrator for response and recovery at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
He said "24 to 36 hours remain for significant threats" from heavy rain, storm surge and flooding.
A tornado watch was issued for eastern North Carolina.
In Wilmington, near where the eye of the hurricane touched down, trees and power lines were felled and many windows had been broken. The streets were mostly deserted and some were blocked by fallen trees.
The city awoke Friday to the sound of exploding electrical transformers with strong gusts of wind throwing street signs and other debris as well as water in all directions.
In Wilmington, Mason Tarr said he spent the night at a friend's house but didn't sleep well.
"And it's just a Category 1 hurricane," Tarr said. "I wonder how it would have been with a Category 4 or 5.
"Our house is on high ground so we're not worried about the flooding," he said. "But there are a lot of big trees around so we preferred to spend the night at a friends to be sure.
"We're out of power so we spent the first few hours of the day playing board games with candles," he said.
About 1.7 million people in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia are under voluntary or mandatory evacuation orders, and millions of others live in areas likely to be affected by the storm.
A state of emergency was declared in five coastal states -- North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Maryland and Virginia. (AFP)
Wilmington, Sep 14: The outer edge of Hurricane Florence began buffeting the Carolinas with wind and rain on Thursday as forecasters warned the monster storm would trigger life-threatening flooding as it assaults the US east coast.
As Florence churned slowly towards the coasts of North and South Carolina as a Category 2 hurricane, federal and state officials issued final appeals to residents to get out of the path of the "once in a lifetime" weather system.
"This storm will bring destruction," North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said.
"Catastrophic effects will be felt." Federal emergency management officials warned that Florence -- while weakening slightly -- remains a "very dangerous storm" capable of wreaking havoc along a wide swathe of the coast.
"Just because the wind speed came down, the intensity of this storm came down to a Cat 2, please do not let your guard down," said Brock Long, the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Warning of looming storm surges of nine to 12 feet (2.7-3.6 meters), he urged residents to take the storm seriously no matter the category, saying "this is all about the water anyway."
Florence was downgraded to a Category 2 storm overnight on the five-level Saffir-Simpson wind scale but it is still packing hurricane-force winds of 100 miles (155 kilometers) per hour, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
Winds were already picking up along the coastline early Thursday and some minor flooding was reported on the Outer Banks, barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina, and in some seaside coastal towns.
Myrtle Beach, a South Carolina beach resort, was virtually deserted with empty streets, boarded up storefronts and very little traffic.
And in Wilmington, North Carolina, a steady rain began to fall as gusts of winds intensified, causing trees to sway and stoplights to flicker.
Avair Vereen, 39, took her seven children to a shelter in Conway High School.
"We live in a mobile home so we were just like 'No way,'" she said. "If we lose the house, oh well, we can get housing." "But we can't replace us so we decided to come here." - Monster storm surge expected -
At 5:00 pm (0230 IST), Florence was over the Atlantic Ocean about 160 kilometers east-southeast of Wilmington, North Carolina, and moving west-northwest at five miles per hour, the NHC said.
Steve Goldstein of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Florence's forward motion had slowed overnight and it was not expected to make landfall in the Carolinas until "some time Friday afternoon, Friday evening or Saturday morning."
He said hurricane-force winds extend outward 80 miles from the center of the storm and tropical storm-force winds extend nearly 200 miles out.
Some areas could receive as much as 40 inches (one meter) of rain, forecasters said.
"This rainfall will produce catastrophic flash flooding and prolonged significant river flooding," the NHC said.
A tornado watch was also in effect for parts of North Carolina.
"This is a very dangerous storm," said FEMA's Long, urging people still in evacuation zones to heed orders to flee to safer ground.
"Your time is running out," he warned.
Long said the danger was not only along the coast. "Inland flooding kills a lot of people, unfortunately, and that's what we're about to see," he said.
About 1.7 million people in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia are under voluntary or mandatory evacuation orders and millions of others live in areas likely to be affected by what officials called a "once in a lifetime" storm.
South Carolina ordered the mandatory evacuation of one million coastal residents while North Carolina announced an evacuation of the Outer Banks, a popular tourist destination.
In Virginia, 245,000 coastal residents were told to flee.
A state of emergency has been declared in five coastal states -- North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Maryland and Virginia -- as well as the US capital Washington.
Duke Energy, a power company in the Carolinas, estimated that one million to three million customers could lose electricity because of the storm and that it could take weeks to restore.
Not everybody was heeding orders to evacuate, however.
Antonio Ramirez, a construction worker from El Salvador living in Leland, North Carolina, said he planned to ride out the worst of the weather with his dog Canelo. (AFP)
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