NEW BERN, NC : Hundreds trapped in N.C.. as Florence crashes coast on Thursday, 13th September 2018
Hurricane Florence, lashing the North Carolina coast with strong winds and blinding rain, made landfall Friday morning having already driven dangerous storm surges of several feet into beach and river towns.
The eye of the storm came ashore at Wrightsville Beach, N.C., just east of Wilmington, with winds of about 90 mph. In the riverfront city of New Bern, emergency rescue teams were trying to reach hundreds of residents trapped in cars, on roofs and in their attics as the Neuse River overflowed and flooded the city.
The storm, which was downgraded to Category 1 late Thursday, made landfall about 7:15 a.m. While the winds had weakened in intensity as the hurricane neared the coast, forecasters warned that the rains may be the real hazard from the storm, which is expected to slowly move southwest into South Carolina before turning north.
Some 200 people were rescued from flood-marooned homes overnight in New Bern, the mayor, Dana Outlaw, said. Another 150 were in need of rescue Friday morning.
About 60 people were evacuated from a hotel in Jacksonville, N.C., local news media reported, after the storm’s strong winds threatened the structural integrity of the building.
The storm surge had reached 7 feet on Emerald Isle, N.C., and could climb as high as 11 feet elsewhere. A high tide around noon Friday could exacerbate the surge. Rainfall of up to 40 inches is expected to bring widespread inland flooding.
More than 400,000 people have lost power in North Carolina, while officials in Onslow County reported “major structural damage to homes, businesses and institutions” by midnight Friday.
Florence is proving to be a lumbering giant, crawling along the coastline as it dumps rain across the Carolinas. Anxiety is high in towns as far inland as Greenville, N.C., where residents braced for the one-two-punch of rain and storm surge.
More than 4,500 people had checked into shelters in South Carolina, and authorities said they had space for more than 34,000 across 64 shelters. North Carolina had opened 126 shelters for about 12,000 people, and is trying to open more.
Rescues were underway Friday morning in New Bern, N.C., a small city that sits at the confluence of two rivers that run into storm-swollen Pamlico Sound.
Some 200 people were rescued from flood-marooned homes overnight, said the mayor, Dana Outlaw, and another 150 were awaiting rescue. Some were in the second floors of homes, others in attics.
“New Bern has not seen a storm like this since the ‘50s,” the mayor said. “I think people just assume things like this just won’t happen.”
“It’s everything that was predicted,” he said.
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