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
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
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.
Follow updates below. Please allow a moment for the blog to load
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.
An update from the National Hurricane Centre, which says Florence is officially about to make landfall in Wilmington, North Carolina.
A North Carolina city says about 70 people have been rescued from a hotel whose structural integrity is being threatened by Hurricane Florence.
The city of Jacksonville's statement says people have been moved to the city's public safety center as officials work to find a more permanent shelter.
Officials found a basketball-sized hole in the hotel wall and other life-threatening damage, with some cinder blocks crumbling and parts of the roof collapsing.
None of the people rescued were injured.
In North Carolina alone, up to 292,000 now without power, according to reports.
That previous figure is quickly being revised upwards. Now 321,000 reportedly without power in North Carolina.
The National Weather Service in Wilmington, which lies in the centre of the storm's path, has issued a flash flood warning. Residents within the red zone told to immediately move to higher ground.
It's not just the US at risk from devastating storms. Here's an update on Typhoon Mangkhut, which is threatening millions of people in the Philippines.
Downtown Wilmington, the town at the centre of the storm, is now seeing wind gusts of up to 91 mph, multiple US outlets are reporting. Florence to make landfall imminently.
An animal shelter in the path of Hurricane Florence has warned it will euthanize animals if it can’t find people to adopt them before the storm hits.
Jewel Horton, manager of Pender County Animal Shelter in North Carolina, said on Wednesday that local government-run animal shelters were filling up fast and that those that hit capacity must “make space”.
This means putting down animals to reduce overcrowding.
More here...
Hurricane Florence is on the verge of making landfall in North Carolina.
Remember, it's about the water, not the wind, with Hurricane Florence making an extended stay along the North Carolina coast.
Forecasters say "it cannot 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."
Top winds were holding at 90 mph - that's just a Category 1 hurricane - but some communities were already submerged in more than six feet of water as the storm drenched the coast.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies