Like hurricanes Harvey and Katrina before it, Florence will be remembered for unleashing a staggering amount of water over a vast area.
Advertisement
“I know for many people this feels like a nightmare that just won’t end”, he said. “I am a Marine”.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation said Monday that one road to Wilmington was open.
When a hurricane hits, people often focus too much on its category – which only measures wind – and not on the massive amounts of rain that accompany a storm.
Nichols shared videos of his team’s weekend rescues efforts and updates on social media.
Downgraded from a tropical depression, the deadly storm still had abundant rain and top winds around 25 miles per hour (40 kph).
A power outage at a wastewater treatment plant in Wilmington caused partially treated sewage water to be released into the Cape Fear River, said Reggie Cheatham, director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Emergency Management.
-Storm deaths: Florence is being blamed for at least 32 deaths in three states, and Typhoon Mangkhut has killed at least 74 people in the Philippines and China.
Florence also left mass flooding throughout the state and hundreds of thousands without power. As much as 6 inches of rain was possible in parts of the region, the NWS said.
As part of a tour through the city to survey the destruction, Governor Roy Cooper met with volunteers as the vehicle line opened to help pass out a portion of the more than 17,000 meals.
President Trump will travel to North Carolina on Wednesday to survey the impact of Hurricane Florence.
One person was killed when at least 16 tornadoes developed from Florence on Monday in Virginia, where dozens of building were destroyed, the NWS reported.
A mobile medical truck was dispatched from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Pender County, just north of Wilmington, to assist residents affected by Florence after the local hospital, Pender Memorial, was flooded and evacuated. Elsewhere in North Carolina, an 88-year-old man died after his auto was swept away. High winds brought down trees and damaged homes.
In Pender County, with the Northeast Cape Fear and Black rivers still rising and many parts of the county cut off due to flooded roads, emergency officials told residents to watch out for rescue helicopters.
Trump issued the posts on Twitter Tuesday, while North Carolina is still dealing with the devastation and coastal and inland flooding wracked by the powerful storm.
Mitch Colvin, Mayor of Fayetteville, North Carolina said: “If you are refusing to leave during this mandatory evacuation, you need to do things like notifying your legal next of kin because the loss of life is very, very possible”.
Advertisement
“It is ridiculous that we don’t have enough fuel supplies back in this area”, Stephanie Schauer, 39, a contractor, said as she waited her turn at the gas pump. If it gets higher than 26 feet, “all bets are off”, city public works Deputy Director Corey Walters said.
