Floodwaters from Hurricane Florence inundate the town of Trenton, N.C., Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018.
Catastrophic flooding from Florence spread across the Carolinas this weekend, with roads to Wilmington cut off by the epic deluge and muddy river water swamping entire neighborhoods miles inland. "The risk to life is rising with the angry waters," Gov. Roy Cooper declared as the storm's death toll continued to climb.
The deadly storm still had abundant rain and top winds around 30 mph (50 kph) early Monday, and forecasters said it was expected to gradually pick up forward speed and complete a big turn toward the Northeast, which is in for as much as 6 inches (15 centimeters) of rain.
In some places, the rain stopped after Florence moved on, and the sun peeked through, but North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper urged residents who were evacuated from the hardest-hit areas to stay away because of closed roads and flooding.
"There's too much going on," he told a news conference.
- Associated Press
PHOTO GALLERY:
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American Red Cross
Beatriz Jerlen Covarrubias-Rivera relaxes on a Red Cross cot with her four sons, ages 2 to 10, while staying at a shelter operated by the Red Cross at E.B. Aycock Middle School on Saturday, Sept. 15, 2018. Beatriz鈥檚 husband leaves the shelter each day to check on their home in Greenville, N.C., which is near a river. 鈥淲e had to get out for safety,鈥� she said. Her son, Carlos adds, 鈥淓verybody is nice to each other [in the shelter] and we鈥檝e made new friends.鈥�
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A child looks out a window at Knightdale High School, which has been converted into an evacuation shelter for people affected by Hurricane Florence in Kinghtdale, N.C., Sunday, Sep. 16, 2018.
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People gather inside Knightdale High School, which has been converted to an evacuation shelter for those affected by Hurricane Florence in Kinghtdale, N.C., Sunday, Sep. 16, 2018.
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Ryan Nelson speaks to a power worker from his porch, which barely missed a direct hit from a tree uprooted by Hurricane Florence Mount Olive, N.C., Sunday, Sep. 16, 2018. Nelson said that despite the size of the tree, the damage to his home of 12 years is minor. "It's a blessing," he said of the near miss.
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Rising water begins to cover Arrington Bridge Road following Hurricane Florence in Goldsboro, N.C., Sunday, Sep. 16, 2018.
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AP
Chicken farm buildings are inundated with floodwater from Hurricane Florence near Trenton, N.C., Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018.
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Some streets and neighborhood flooded in Lumberton, N.C., on Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018.
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News & Observer, Pool
Water is released from the dam at Hope Mills Lake, south of Fayetteville, into the Cape Fear River after flood waters from Hurricane Florence inundated the area on Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018, in Hope Mills, NC. This photo was taken from a Coast Guard plane carrying the governor N.C. on a tour of damaged areas Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018.
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Flood water rises behind Wayne Auto Salvage, a business off highway 117 after Hurricane Florence Goldsboro, N.C., Sunday, Sep. 16, 2018.
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Specialist Sydney Potter with the North Carolina National Guard waits to begin a mission in Kinston, N.C. after Hurricane Florence pounded eastern North Carolina with unrelenting wind and rain for several days in a row on Sunday, Sep. 16, 2018.
Updated at 5:29 p.m. Governor Roy Cooper toured storm damaged areas around the state Sunday and visited a shelter in Chapel Hill housing evacuees from鈥�
Duke Energy said Saturday night that heavy rains from Florence caused a slope to collapse at a coal-ash landfill at a closed power station near the North鈥�
A state agency tasked with rebuilding homes damaged in hurricanes Matthew and Florence is asking the legislature for more money, saying it otherwise won't finish the long-delayed recovery from storms that hit North Carolina more than six years ago.
More than 1,500 homeowners are still waiting for help from a state program to repair or rebuild houses damaged in hurricanes Matthew and Florence. The program says it could soon run out of money if more funding isn鈥檛 allocated.
Five years after Hurricane Florence left damage across eastern North Carolina, youth reporter Manzili Kokayi uplifts one woman's fight to save her family's generational property.
Mayor Billy Hammond and other town leaders came up with a dramatic plan to address repeat flooding: build a whole new downtown-style commercial district a few blocks up the street on higher ground.
A program is funded by federal dollars and housed in Gov. Roy Cooper鈥檚 administration has finished only 1,163 projects so far, even though it's been nearly five years since Hurricane Florence.
