Hurricane Florence live updates: Death toll reaches eight in Carolinas as danger from flash flooding soars
Officials say the most dangerous part of the storm could be yet to come
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Eight people, including a mother and her infant child, have died in the Carolinas from the deadly effects of Hurricane Florence.
The powerful storm flattened trees, buckled buildings and knocked out power to nearly 930,000 homes and businesses as it battered the southeast coast of the US.
It made landfall on Friday with a life-threatening storm surge pushing water inland for miles and more than 60 people had to be pulled from a collapsing motel.
Nearly 400 people had to be rescued from their flooded homes in New Bern, North Carolina, after they decided to try and see out the wind and rain.
Governor Roy Cooper called Florence an "uninvited brute" that could wipe out entire communities as it grinds its way across land.
"The fact is this storm is deadly and we know we are days away from an ending," he said.
Florence was downgraded to a tropical storm with winds of 60 mph (95 kph) as it slowly moved west.
The first known deaths related to the storm were a mother and her infant child who were killed when a tree fell on their house in Wilmington, North Carolina.
In Lenoir County a 78-year-old man was electrocuted and a 77-year-old man was found dead after he went outside to check on his dogs.
A woman also died of a suspected heart attack in Pender county. Although it was not directly related to Florence, emergency services were blocked from attending by storm damage. On Saturday, a further three deaths were confirmed. According to Duplin County Sherriff Blake Wallace, two of the deaths happened outside of Kenansville, while the third happened in Kornegay.
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Experts had warned the effects of the hurricane could be devastating.
“This is a horrific nightmare storm from a meteorological perspective,” University of Georgia meteorology professor Marshall Shepherd said. “We’ve just never seen anything like this. This is just a strange bird.”
The Duke Energy company estimated that between 1 million and 3 million homes could be without power in the wake of the hurricane.
Hurricane Florence hits the US East Coast
Show all 20Donald Trump issued a stark warning on Twitter on Wednesday, telling Americans to evacuate and not to “play games with” Florence. “It’s a big one, maybe as big as they’ve seen, and tremendous amounts of water,” he added in a video posted to Twitter.
He claimed federal authorities were “fully prepared” for the hurricane, saying: “The storm will come, it will go, we want everybody to be safe. We’re fully prepared, food, medical, everything you can imagine, we are ready.
“But despite that, bad things can happen when you’re talking about a storm this size. It’s called Mother Nature, you never know. But we know, we love you all, we want you safe, get out of the storm’s way, listen to your local representatives.”
It came just days after an official report criticised the US government’s handling of the response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, the US territory where some 3,000 people were killed last autumn.
BREAKING: According to local TV cable news channel WSOC-TV, more than 280,000 customers are not without power in North Carolina.
A North Carolina city situated between two rivers says it has around 150 people waiting to be rescued from rising flood waters from Hurricane Florence.
WXII-TV reports the city of New Bern said Friday that two out-of-state FEMA teams were working on swift-water rescues and more teams were on the way. City spokeswoman Colleen Roberts tells WRAL-TV that 200 people have already been rescued.
The National Hurricane Center says the Neuse River near the city is recording more than 10 feet (3.05 meters) of inundation. Roberts says the storm surge continues to increase as Florence passes over the area.
The city warns that people "may need to move up to the second story" but tells them to stay put as "we are coming to get you."
The National Hurricane Center says Florence is about to make landfall in North Carolina, bringing with it life-threatening storm surges and hurricane force winds.
At 5am, Florence was 25 miles east of Wilmington, North Carolina. Its forward movement was 6 mph. Hurricane-force winds extended 90 miles from its centre, and tropical-storm-force winds up to 195 miles.
The Miami-based centre had said earlier Friday Florence's arrival would come with "catastrophic" fresh water flooding over portions of the Carolinas.
Strapping your house down is presumably one effective way of making sure it doesn't blow away.
Another petrol station being torn apart by Hurricane Florence. Head here for footage of the other one.
Animal rights charity PETA have rescued a dog, whose owners refused to let him in the house after having it remodeled. They say the dog is now up for adoption.
Hurricane Florence by the numbers:
— The storm is about 400 miles wide, with hurricane-force winds stretching across a 160-mile span.
— Parts of the Carolinas could see 20 to 30 inches of rain, with isolated areas getting 40 inches, over seven days along the coast
— Storm surge up to 13 feet, and seawaters could push inland 2 miles, depending on how long Florence lingers
— Historically, 49 per cent of US hurricane deaths come from storm surge, 27 per cent from rain, 8 per cent from wind, 6 per cent from surf, 6 per cent were offshore and 3 per cent from tornadoes.
— Maximum sustained winds at 100 mph, below the 111 mph threshold for a "major" hurricane but still extremely dangerous
— There were: 12,000 outages in North Carolina as of Thursday afternoon, and Duke Energy anticipates 1 million to 3 million homes and businesses losing power
— 11 million Americans live in areas under storm watches and warnings
— Nearly 1,200 flights canceled
— Private meteorologists estimate $10 billion to $60 billion in economic damages
John Legere, T-Mobile's US chief, announced late last night the network provider is offering free calls, texts and data to customers in impacted areas.
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