Hurricane Florence Makes Landfall in N. Carolina

Florence was expected to make landfall near Cape Fear, North Carolina, at midday, and forecasters said its size meant it could batter the U.S. East Coast with hurricane-force winds for almost a full day.

To the south, storm surge pushed water levels at Johnny Mercer Pier at Wrightsville Beach, where Florence made landfall at 7:15 a.m. with 90 miles per hour winds, to more than 8.5 feet.

“Experts claim that this is just beginning of this catastrophe”. Hundreds more were rescued elsewhere from rising water. “We are stuck in the attic”. Other evacuees are sheltering with family and friends or in hotels. Emergency declarations were in force in Georgia, South and North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia.

North Carolina alone is forecast to get 36 trillion litres, enough to cover the Tar Heel state to a depth of about 25 centimetres.

As it approaches OH it will become a post-tropical storm before swinging to the northeast on a path to Nova Scotia in the middle of next week.

One man was rescued from the Mercer Avenue home, according to Wilmington Fire Department Chief Buddy Martinette.

More than 440,000 homes and businesses were without power in North and SC early on Friday, utility officials said.

“More people die from storm surge than any proponent of hurricanes”, Kottlowsk tells TIME.

There are flood warnings everywhere.

Others, though, chose to stay at home and perhaps regretted their decision.

In New Bern, population 29,000, flooding on the Neuse River left 500 people in peril. Additional swiftwater rescue teams were on the way.

“In this situation, we’ve had a lot of people that have evacuated their homes and businesses … and we have already seen that through the night”, he said. “If the number seems really insane high, you always have to have some suspicion until we can actually get out and verify it”.

“This storm has been hovering over us for a while, and we expect it to continue to hover over us”, Parker said.

While forecasters have been keeping a close eye on the storm from the ground, the International Space Station watched the slow-moving hurricane make landfall from above.

“It’s the worst feeling in the world to hear people yelling for help and you can’t do anything”, she said.

The city of about 29,000, which was founded in the early 1700s and was briefly the state capital, is near the North Carolina coast and is bordered on the east and south, respectively, by two rivers.

Forecasters say “it can not be emphasized enough that the most serious hazard associated with slow-moving Florence is extremely heavy rainfall, which will cause disastrous flooding that will be spreading inland”. It came ashore along a mostly boarded-up, emptied-out stretch of coastline. “The longer you have this hurricane wind flow, the longer you push that water well inland”, he said.

“The water kept rising and kept rising”, he said.

A gust of 169km/h was recorded at Wilmington airport, surpassing the power of Hurricane Fran two decades ago.

“We’re in God’s hands”, said Rick Foreman, pastor at West Lumberton Baptist Church, as the Lumber River steadily rose Friday and local residents filled sandbags.

The White House said President Donald Trump was to visit hurricane-hit areas next week “once it is determined his travel will not disrupt any rescue or recovery efforts”.

“What happens is that we rescue some people and then we find out there are still more who need it”, Outlaw said. “Surviving this storm with be a test of endurance, teamwork, common sense and patience”.

Florence is projected to migrate at barely more than a walking pace across northern SC, passing close to the city of Florence – truly – on Saturday.

He picked up 10 people on one run and took them to a shelter.

That said, the storm is still expected to stall once it hits the Wilmington coast, with weather officials early Thursday raising the expected total rainfall for Wilmington to 35 inches – weather officials had predicted 30 inches for Wilmington in briefings released Wednesday.

Utility companies said millions were expected to lose power and that restoring it could take weeks.

Teia Cherry and her family thought they could ride out Florence, now a tropical storm, at home. “Plant procedures call for the reactors to be shut down before the anticipated onset of hurricane-force winds”, agency spokesman Joey Ledford told CNN.

Kroger said it has shut down four stores in SC and suspended grocery pickup and/or delivery in six SC stores, eight Georgia stores and five Virginia stores. It’s moving at 15 miles per hour, but as it nears the Carolina coast, it will dramatically slow down.

Storm surges – the bulge of ocean water pushed ashore by the hurricane – were as high as 10 feet (3 meters).

NewsHour has also published maps of flooding predictions for the coast.

Authorities warned, too, of the threat of mudslides and the risk of an environmental disaster from floodwaters washing over industrial waste sites and hog farms.

Strong winds and heavy rain continue to present a danger, and Florence is now being attributed to several deaths.

“Well operate without power; we have candles”.

“You evacuate from water”, Cline said. “Really all you could do is stay inside and hope for the best”.

“This is our only home”.

“I’m anxious about what I might find when I go home, though”, she said. “We have a safe basement and generator that comes on automatically”.

While thousands chose to flee the coast, others hunkered down.