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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Your support makes all the difference.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.
Donald 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.
Greetings from Washington DC, the nation's capital, where Mr Trump holed up, busily tweeting praise and congratulations to his own agencies, police and rescue workers. The president typically likes to spend the weekend at one of his golf courses; no word yet on whether the hurricane will interfere with that.
Meanwhile, a reminder of the sheer beauty of these storms, before they hit the ground and cause ugly devastating damage:
There's been a lot a debate since last year's hurricane season, when TV anchors were accused of putting themselves and their teams at risk, by shooting live scenes as the storm passed them. This morning, CNN's John Berman was in Wilmington, North Carolina, when the audio cut out.
“My [microphone] cord just literally split in two,” Berman said. “Some duct tape might be helpful.”
North Carolina city of New Bern reports 150 people are stranded and in need of rescue. Some on social media already asking why they did not heed warnings to evacuate, though that might be a discussion probably better held once people know they are safe:
The National Weather Service (NWS) has just warned that Hurricane Florence will be a marathon vs a sprint. "In addition to the ongoing, dangerous storm surge and flash flooding, will be a long-term river flood threat WELL INLAND as very heavy rainfall continues to fall in the coming days," it said.
Donald Trump has retweeted a series of safety messages as Hurricane Florence makes landfall near Wrightsville Beach in North Carolina.
One message, from the National Hurricane Center, showed a graphic of the storm, showing its speed as it approach the coastline.
Herds of wild horses roaming across North Carolina have used their instincts to survive major storms like Hurricane Florence for centuries.
As the Category 2 hurricane churns towards the US coastline with an expanding potential for rain and storm surges, experts have said they are confident the horses will endure yet another natural disaster.
You can read more about the fate of these animals here...
Wind speeds are picking up far from the coast in central South Carolina as Hurricane Florence slowly progresses. The National Weather Service reported wind gusts of up to 21 mph (34 kph) on Friday morning in Columbia.
That's about 220 miles (354 kilometers) from Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, where Florence made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane this morning. Wind gusts as high as 60 mph (96 kph) were recorded in the Myrtle Beach area.
More than 60 people had to be pulled from a collapsing motel at the height of the storm in North Carolina, where the hurricane was upgraded to a category one.
There are no reports of any deaths at this time.
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