Hurricane Florence live updates: Death toll reaches eight in Carolinas as danger from flash flooding soars
Officials say the most dangerous part of the storm could be yet to come
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Your support makes all the difference.Eight people, including a mother and her infant child, have died in the Carolinas from the deadly effects of Hurricane Florence.
The powerful storm flattened trees, buckled buildings and knocked out power to nearly 930,000 homes and businesses as it battered the southeast coast of the US.
It made landfall on Friday with a life-threatening storm surge pushing water inland for miles and more than 60 people had to be pulled from a collapsing motel.
Nearly 400 people had to be rescued from their flooded homes in New Bern, North Carolina, after they decided to try and see out the wind and rain.
Governor Roy Cooper called Florence an "uninvited brute" that could wipe out entire communities as it grinds its way across land.
"The fact is this storm is deadly and we know we are days away from an ending," he said.
Florence was downgraded to a tropical storm with winds of 60 mph (95 kph) as it slowly moved west.
The first known deaths related to the storm were a mother and her infant child who were killed when a tree fell on their house in Wilmington, North Carolina.
In Lenoir County a 78-year-old man was electrocuted and a 77-year-old man was found dead after he went outside to check on his dogs.
A woman also died of a suspected heart attack in Pender county. Although it was not directly related to Florence, emergency services were blocked from attending by storm damage. On Saturday, a further three deaths were confirmed. According to Duplin County Sherriff Blake Wallace, two of the deaths happened outside of Kenansville, while the third happened in Kornegay.
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Experts had warned the effects of the hurricane could be devastating.
“This is a horrific nightmare storm from a meteorological perspective,” University of Georgia meteorology professor Marshall Shepherd said. “We’ve just never seen anything like this. This is just a strange bird.”
The Duke Energy company estimated that between 1 million and 3 million homes could be without power in the wake of the hurricane.
Donald Trump issued a stark warning on Twitter on Wednesday, telling Americans to evacuate and not to “play games with” Florence. “It’s a big one, maybe as big as they’ve seen, and tremendous amounts of water,” he added in a video posted to Twitter.
He claimed federal authorities were “fully prepared” for the hurricane, saying: “The storm will come, it will go, we want everybody to be safe. We’re fully prepared, food, medical, everything you can imagine, we are ready.
“But despite that, bad things can happen when you’re talking about a storm this size. It’s called Mother Nature, you never know. But we know, we love you all, we want you safe, get out of the storm’s way, listen to your local representatives.”
It came just days after an official report criticised the US government’s handling of the response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, the US territory where some 3,000 people were killed last autumn.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper has said that Hurricane Florence is so widespread, “you will find it hard to find a NC resident who has not been impacted. It has just come ashore and will be here for a long time. This is going to be a bad storm.”
At the same conference, Major General Gregory Lusk said over 500 activated North Carolina Guard soldiers and airmen “are already responding to calls over the state. We are standing up a joint task force that has a dual status commander that will be coordinating response efforts.”
North Carolina officials say parts of the state could experience a once-in-a-millennia flood as Hurricane Florence dumps rain for days to come.
Govenor said that Florence is "wreaking havoc" and he's concerned "whole communities" could be wiped away.
He said parts of the state have seen storm surges as high as 10 feet.
Transportation Secretary Jim Trogdon said the state is expecting 1,000-year "flood events" in areas between Wilmington and Charlotte.
Animals such as dolphins are being driven further inland by the storm surges according to witnesses.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has released a list of what they have prepared to deal with the hurricane:
- The Defense Logistics Agency has 281,000 gallons of fuel, 60 generators and transformers.
- 14,000 people spent the night in 205 Red Cross shelters in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.
- 4,500 meals and snacks have been served by the Red Cross
- 40,000 electric workers from 17 states have been mobilized.
- 4,000 National Guard soldiers and air men are on duty. 10 states are mobilizing support. 40 rotary wing aircraft are available for search and rescue.
- 3,000 flood-certified insurance adjusters are on standby.
There is plenty of flooding in North Carolina now, with parts of the southeastern area of the state under flash-flood warnings.
The National Disaster Search Dog Foundation has deployed human and canine teams to the East Coast to aid in hurricane relief. Also deployed was Morty, a canine assistant from the Disaster Response Canine Unit, who previously helped with the response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.
The centre of Hurricane Florence has continued to move westward toward the border between North and South Carolina, according to the latest NHC update. The maximum sustained winds have decreased to 75 mph (120 k/h), but the storm is still bringing "torrential" rains to surrounding areas.
The NHC warned that "catastrophic" flash flooding was expected to worsen today across southeast North Carolina and northeast South Carolina.
A home in Raleigh, North Carolina has been crushed by a falling tree, according to local news reports. The NHC says wind speeds at the centre of the hurricane are around 75 mph.
While the situation on the ground is getting ugly, this footage from the international space station shows how hypnotic Hurricane Florence looks from above.
While the US East Coast is being pummeled by Hurricane Florence, Philippine authorities are evacuating more areas in preparation for a "very destructive" typhoon, according to Reuters.
Authorities warned approximately 5.2m people to stay indoors, and moved ore than 9,000 people have been moved to temporary shelters. Super Typhoon Mangkhut is forcast to bring 205 kph winds to the northernmost tip of the Philippines when it strikes on Saturday.
"My appeal is that we need to heed the advice of the authorities. Stay indoors," said Francis Tolentino, the government's disaster response coordinator.
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