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.
The Red Cross is urging residents in non-impacted areas to give blood as Hurricane Florence batters the Carolina coastline.
The organisation had to cancel about 130 blood drives because of the hurricane, so it's calling on volunteers from outside the area to donate.
Federal officials are urging anyone who ignored orders to evacuate to now stay put until the storm passes.
About 9,700 National Guard troops and civilians have been deployed, with high-water vehicles, helicopters and boats, to help clear debris and restore power where possible.
Footage captured by a live camera overlooking the Atlantic Ocean shows an American flag being ripped apart by Hurricane Florence’s intense winds.
Watch the video here:
Fire department rescue workers and volunteers use a boat to rescue a woman and her dog from their flooded home during in James City, North Carolina.
(Getty Images)
With Hurricane Florence barreling toward their home near Wilmington, North Carolina, Allison Hales Jordan and her husband boarded up their house, packed up their car and headed to Walt Disney World in Florida with their two teenage children.
“When we decided where to go, everybody was going west, but we decided we should go as far south as possible, which is weird since Florida gets hurricanes,” Ms Jordan from Burgaw, North Carolina told the Associated Press.
The latest update on Hurricane Florence is out from the National Hurricane Center (NHC) is out. Here is some analysis from a local forecaster:
Hurricane Florence's winds are down to 80 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.
When the storm made landfall, it had 90 mph winds.
When the winds drop to 73 mph. Then Florence will move from a hurricane to a tropical storm
The storm — which made landfall in North Carolina this morning — is expected to crawl westward, across South Carolina, before it turns to the north.
It's traveling at just 3mph, which is a walking pace.
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.
You can read more about the rescue centre here:
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