WILMINGTON: Hurricane Florence crashed into the Carolinas on Friday, knocking down trees and swamping streets with torrential rains and a powerful storm surge, before slowing to a pace that meant it would plague the area with days of flooding.

The hurricane’s storm surge — the wall of water it pushed in from the Atlantic — had overwhelmed New Bern, a town of about 30,000 people at the confluence of the Neuse and Trent rivers.

“The sun rose this morning on an extremely dangerous situation and it’s going to get worse,” the governor of North Carolina said at a news conference in Raleigh. “To those in the storm’s path, if you can hear me, please stay sheltered in place.”

No storm-related deaths or serious injuries were reported in the hours immediately after Florence hit, but authorities said more than 60 people, including many children and pets, had to be evacuated from a hotel in Jacksonville, North Carolina, after strong winds caused parts of the roof to collapse.

The centre of the hurricane’s eye came ashore at 1115 GMT near Wrightsville beach close to Wilmington, North Carolina, with sustained winds of 150 kilometres per hour (kph).

By 1800 GMT the winds had dropped to 120kph and the centre was moving west at 10kph, the NHC said, and parts of North and South Carolina would get as much as one metre of rain.

Florence was set to cover almost all of North Carolina in several feet of water. As of Friday morning, Atlantic Beach, a town on the state’s Outer Banks barrier islands, already had received 76cm of rain.

The weather service predicted Florence could drop up to eight months’ worth of rain in two or three days.

Authorities in New Bern said more than 100 people had to be saved from floods and that the downtown area was underwater. The town’s public information officer, Colleen Roberts, told CNN 150 more people were awaiting rescue.

Helping with rescues there were members of the so-called Cajun Navy, a group of Louisiana-based volunteers who became famous during last year’s Hurricane Harvey, locals said on Twitter.

New Bern city officials said on Twitter: “You may need to move up to the second story, or to your attic, but WE ARE COMING TO GET YOU.”

Video reports from several towns in the Carolinas showed emergency personnel wading through rippling thigh-high floodwaters in residential neighbourhoods.

‘It’s insane’

Florence also blew down trees, including one that went through the roof of Kevin DiLoreto’s home in Wilmington. He said all roads leading to his neighbourhood were blocked by fallen trees.

“It’s insane,” he said in a phone interview. “Everybody laughs at the fact that this storm got downgraded ... but I’ve never seen tree devastation this bad.

“Afterwards, I’m going to drink a bottle of whiskey and take a two-day nap, but right now I’m walking the neighbourhood and making sure my neighbours are fine, because nobody can get in here.”—Reuters

Published in Dawn, September 15th, 2018