Weakening Hurricane Joaquin soaking Bermuda

Three people died on Friday and Saturday in traffic incidents in South Carolina, and a vehicle passenger died in North Carolina on Thursday when a tree fell on Interstate 95, officials said.

The latest death reported was a woman killed when her SUV was swept into flood waters in Columbia.

As if one wasn’t bad enough.

Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia were under states of emergency.

Police say they responded to 74 crashes and 52 disabled vehicles by midday Friday.

“It is impossible to navigate the peninsula right now without a kayak or a monster truck”, she said.

This dramatic satellite image shows how 165-mph Hurricane Joaquin is sweeping across the Atlantic towards Britain.

Residents of Princeville, North Carolina, couldn’t help thinking of Hurricane Floyd in 1999, when muddy, swirling floodwaters wiped out 850 homes in the community of about 2,000 that is considered the oldest US town chartered by blacks.

“This is my 26th year living here, and I have never seen this before”, San Salvador resident Paul Turnquest told The Nassau Guardian.

Inland areas of South Carolina also were battered by rain.

Flood watches and warnings also are in effect in Delaware and parts of New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia.

“We’re looking at historic flooding in coastal South Carolina“, said CNN meteorologist Rachel Aissen.

A foot of rain could befall the Southern Appalachians. And up to four inches could strike the waterfront between Georgia and New Jersey.

The steady downpour around the Southeast has drawn tropical moisture from offshore that’s linked up with an area of low pressure and a slow-moving front.

Another rescue mission was successful: On Thursday night, the Coast Guard helicopter lifted 12 sailors from their sinking 212-foot cargo ship besieged by Joaquin and listing 51 miles northwest of Haiti, the guard said.

A weakening Hurricane Joaquin moved past Bermuda and farther out into the Atlantic after pounding the wealthy financial haven and tourist destination with heavy rains and winds. It was between Bermuda and the Bahamas’ San Salvador Island as of midday.

She said people who live in low-lying areas need to go ahead and leave.

Everyone in South Carolina is urged to continue to monitor the developing forecasts through news media and by following trusted sources online.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe declared a state of emergency Wednesday afternoon, which allows emergency responders to begin to prepare for the storms.

This will cause “significant beach and dune erosion with moderate coastal flooding likely”, it added.

What’s not going away is the rain for the already waterlogged region.

“We haven’t had time to recover from last weekend”, said Carin Faulkner, the assistant town manager. We could have amounts similar on top of Saturated ground.

Joaquin weakened from a Category 4 status with 130 miles per hour winds, the National Hurricane Center said.

In Norfolk, North Carolina, Bernie Bohm took advantage in a break in the storm to pull his 19-foot sailboat Magic Morning out of the Lafayette River before high tide approached – the first time he’s taken his boat out of the water since March.

It doesn’t look like that will happen, though it doesn’t mean history won’t be made. The flooding however is not being caused by Joaquin but a rare combination of multiple factors coming together over the region all at once. Note that most of the rivers will rise VERY quickly and at night making for a potentially unsafe situation.