The death toll from Hurricane Florence, which made landfall in North Carolina on Friday, has risen to 31. Authorities are warning that flooding could persist for several weeks in some areas with the "worst yet to come."
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/G. Broome
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North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper has urged residents who were evacuated from the worst-hit areas ahead of Hurricane Florence to stay away amid warnings that the floods in the state were worsening.
"This is an epic storm that is still continuing," Cooper told a news conference.
"There's too much going on…Please don't make yourself someone who needs to be rescued," he said even as rains stopped in several places after Florence moved on and the weary residents got a brief glimpse of sunshine on Monday.
The National Weather Service (NWS) said there was an "elevated risk for landslides" in North Carolina.
"The worst is yet to come," as river levels rise to historic levels, said Zach Taylor, an NWS meteorologist. "The soil is soaked and can't absorb any more rain so that water has to go somewhere, unfortunately."
The dead included a 1-year-old boy who was swept away after his mother drove into floodwaters and lost her grip on him as they tried to escape their car.
"Don't drive around barricades. We're seeing this happen now and the result is not good," Cooper said.
Pollution scare
Emergency workers delivered truckloads of food and water to the coastal city of Wilmington, which remains largely cut off from the rest of North Carolina with just one major accessible route.
"We're dealing with some very, very tough situations with respect to the impassable roads coming into the city of Wilmington," Mayor Bill Saffo told residents on Twitter. "As the water recedes things will get better."
North Carolina environmental regulators said several open-air manure pits at hog farms had been breached and were spilling pollution. State officials also were monitoring the ongoing threat from the breach of a coal ash landfill near Wilmington.
Florence, which has been downgraded to a tropical depression from a hurricane, was headed through Virginia toward New England.
About 500,000 homes and businesses were in the dark on Monday in North and South Carolina and surrounding states.
The powerful hurricane has left a trail of death and destruction in its wake. DW examines the devastation.
Image: Getty Images/C. Somodevilla
Hurricane Florence: A devastating journey
Although Hurricane Florence diminished from a Category 5 storm to a Category 1 before making landfall, and then to a Tropical Storm, its sheer size – 350 miles wide (565 kilometers) — and grinding speed would make it a tough event to weather.
Image: Getty Images/C. Somodevilla
Homes destroyed
At least eight people were killed by the storm. A mother and her baby were killed when a tree fell on their home in North Carolina. The father, who was injured in the tragic incident, was hospitalized. Authorities believe the death toll could rise as the storm moves out of the area.
Image: Reuters/E. Munoz
Towns inundated
Emergency personnel and volunteers rescued roughly 500 people who were trapped by flooding in New Bern. More than 20,000 people have been housed in emergency shelters across North Carolina. The US National Hurricane Center warned of "catastrophic flash flooding."
Image: Getty Images/C. Somodevilla
Economic nightmare
Authorities are estimated economic damages amounting to up to $60 billion (€51.6 billion). US President Donald Trump is expected to visit "once it is determined his travel will not disrupt any rescue or recovery efforts."
Image: Reuters/E. Munoz
No rest
But North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper warned that the worst could still be yet to come as the state prepared for "several more days of rain." He described the rainfall as a "1,000-year event" destined to change the lives of the Carolinas' residents.
Image: Getty Images/C. Somodevilla
More to come
In North Carolina, Fayetteville Mayor Mitch Colvin urged thousands of residents to leave their homes and seek shelter elsewhere due to the flood risk. "If you are refusing to leave during this mandatory evacuation, you need to things like notify your legal next of kin because the loss of life is very, very possible," he said. "The worst is yet to come."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/NOAA
Search and rescue
Although the military has been deployed to the Carolinas, US officials said the storm's slow movement is making it difficult to get rescue helicopters airborne. Air Force Gen. Terrence J. O'Shaughnessy, who heads US Northern Command, told AP news agency that Navy aircraft are preparing to launch off the coast to provide more information about the situation.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/C. Seward
Survivor the cat
With flood waters rising faster than expected, many communities have been caught off guard by the additional devastation in the wake of Florence. About 50 people have been airlifted out by helicopter and hundreds more rescued from their homes by boat. But for one of those rescued, he couldn't leave a kitten behind. He's called his new friend "Survivor." ls/sms (AP, Reuters, AFP)
Image: picture-alliance/AP/News & Observer/A. Carter
