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| Cars try to navigate a flooded road leading to Interstate 40 in Castle Hayne, N.C., after damage from Hurricane Florence cut off access to Wilmington, N.C., Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton) |
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| Members of the North Carolina Task Force urban search and rescue team check cars in a flooded neighborhood looking for residents who stayed behind as Florence continues to dump heavy rain in Fayetteville, N.C., Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018. (AP Photo/David Goldman) |
VietPress USA (Sept. 16, 2018): AP reported that "Damage from Hurricane Florence left a North Carolina city popular with tourists cut off Sunday from road access, leaving authorities planning how to get food and water there by air and water.
Officials from New Hanover County and Wilmington said Sunday that additional rainfall Saturday night caused more problems for the area. State Transportation Secretary Jim Trogdon said one of his top priorities was determining how to restore ground access to the area.
"Our roads are flooded," Woody White, chairman of the county Board of Commissioners, said Sunday at a news conference. "There is no access to Wilmington."
The major highways into the area, Interstate 40 and U.S. 74, were not accessible, officials said.
Trogdon said the state was working with the Department of Defense and National Guard to see if they could get first responders through to Wilmington in high-water vehicles. He also said officials were working on "other contingencies to support Wilmington on the ocean side."
While the city was cut off from the outside, streets in Wilmington were busy with motorists."
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Flooding fears surge as rivers rise; Wilmington cut off
WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — Catastrophic flooding from Florence spread across the Carolinas on Sunday, with roads to Wilmington cut off by the epic deluge and muddy river water swamping entire neighborhoods miles inland. "The risk to life is rising with the angry waters," Gov. Roy Cooper declared as the storm's death toll climbed to 16.
The storm continued to crawl westward, dumping more than 30 inches of rain in spots since Friday, and fears of historic flooding grew. Tens of thousands were ordered evacuated from communities along the state's steadily rising rivers — with the Cape Fear, Little River, Lumber, Waccamaw and Pee Dee rivers all projected to burst their banks.
In Wilmington , with roads leading in and out of the city underwater and streams still swelling upward, residents waited for hours outside stores and restaurants for basic necessities like water. Police guarded the door of one store, and only 10 people were allowed inside at a time.
Woody White, chairman of the board of commissioners of New Hanover County, said officials were planning for food and water to be flown into the coastal city of nearly 120,000 people.
"Our roads are flooded," he said. "There is no access to Wilmington."
About 70 miles (115 kilometers) away from the coast, residents near the Lumber River stepped from their homes directly into boats floating in their front yards; river forecasts showed the scene could be repeated in towns as far as 250 miles inland as waters rise for days.
Downgraded overnight to a tropical depression, Florence was still massive. Radar showed parts of the sprawling storm over six states, with North and South Carolina in the bull's-eye.
Meanwhile, half way around the world, Typhoon Mangkhut barreled into southern China on Sunday after lashing the Philippines with strong winds and heavy rain that left dozens dead. More than 2.4 million people were evacuated from China's southern Guangdong province ahead of the massive typhoon, the strongest to hit the region in nearly two decades.
In North Carolina, fears of what could be the worst flooding in the state's history led officials to order tens of thousands to evacuate, though it wasn't clear how many had fled or even could. The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Brock Long, said officials were focused on finding people and rescuing them.
"We'll get through this. It'll be ugly, but we'll get through it," Long told NBC's "Meet The Press."
President Donald Trump said federal emergency workers, first responders and law enforcement officials were "working really hard." As the storm "begins to finally recede, they will kick into an even higher gear. Very Professional!" he declared in a tweet.
The storm's death toll climbed to 16 when authorities said a pickup truck ran into standing water in South Carolina and the driver lost control, hitting a tree. Two other people also died in storm-related wrecks, and two more people died from inhaling carbon monoxide from a generator in their home.
Victor Merlos was overjoyed to find a store open for business in Wilmington since he had about 20 relatives staying at his apartment, which still had power. He spent more than $500 on cereal, eggs, soft drinks and other necessities, plus beer.
"I have everything I need for my whole family," said Merlos. Nearby, a Waffle House restaurant limited breakfast customers to one biscuit and one drink, all take-out, with the price of $2 per item.
Kenneth Campbell had donned waterproof waders intending to check out his home in Lumberton , but he didn't bother when he saw the Coast Guard and murky waters in his neighborhood.
"I'm not going to waste my time. I already know," he said.
As rivers swelled, state regulators and environmental groups were monitoring the threat from gigantic hog and poultry farms located in low-lying, flood-prone areas.
The industrial-scale farms contain vast pits of animal feces and urine that can pose a significant pollution threat if they are breached or inundated by floodwaters. In past hurricanes, flooding at dozens of farms also left hundreds of thousands of dead hogs, chickens and other decomposing livestock bobbing in floodwaters.
Stream gauges across the region showed water levels rising steadily, with forecasts calling for rivers to crest Sunday and Monday at or near record levels. The Defense Department said about 13,500 military personnel had been assigned to help relief efforts.
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