WILMINGTON, NC-- Hurricane Florence resumed its second week of impacts with much of the same, flooding that cut off entire towns, water rescues in parts of the Carolinas that have been inundated, evacuations as rivers continued to rise, and more tragedy.

Wednesday afternoon in South Carolina's Marion County, emergency management officials ordered the immediate evacuation of residents living anywhere along the Great Pee Dee and Little Pee Dee rivers.

The storm is responsible for at least 37 deaths, 27 in North Carolina, eight in South Carolina and two in Virginia.

"America grieves with you and our hearts break for you. God bless you," President Donald Trump said Wednesday during a briefing in Havelock, North Carolina. "We will never forget your loss. We will never leave your side. We're with you all the way."

Trump later traveled to South Carolina where Gov. Henry McMaster said the storm had likely been the worst disaster in the state's history but warned it wasn't over yet.

"The rain and the water you see out there now is just the beginning," McMaster said. "The worst is yet to come."

South Carolina

Florence County officials have warned all residents along the Lynches and Pee Dee rivers to be ready to evacuate if necessary. “Rivers are still rising and will continue to rise for a majority of the week,” SCEMD said in a press release. The State Fire Marshal said teams had assisted with 518 evacuations by Wednesday afternoon because of flooding from Florence over the last 24 hours.

Authorities confirm two detainees drowned when a van was swept away in rising flood waters in South Carolina. Horry County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Brooke Holden says a sheriff’s office van was carrying two female detainees, later identified by Marion County Coroner Jerry Richardson as 45-year-old Windy Wenton and 43-year-old Nicolette Green, and two deputies from Conway to Darlington on Tuesday night when it was overtaken by flood waters. Holden says the deputies tried to get the detainees out but couldn’t open the doors. High-water rescue teams plucked the deputies from the top of the van.

Lawson Battle, mayor of Nichols, South Carolina, says his tiny town is underwater again. The water is about as high as it was two years ago during Hurricane Matthew, when 90 percent of the buildings in the town of 350 were flooded, Battle told the AP.

North Carolina

North Carolina’s governor urged evacuees to be patient and not try to return home just yet. “I know it was hard to leave home, and it is even harder to wait and wonder whether you even have a home to go back to,” Cooper said. He warned that the flooding from Florence is far from over and could still get worse in places. The governor said 16 rivers statewide were at major flood stage and more than 1,100 roads were closed.

Michael Jordan is donating $2 million to assist residents affected by Hurricane Florence. The former NBA star says the destruction caused by Hurricane Florence to his hometown of Wilmington, North Carolina, prompted him to act quickly. The six-time NBA champion and Charlotte Hornets owner contributed $1 million each to the American Red Cross and the Foundation For The Carolinas' Hurricane Florence Response Fund.

Wilmington's 120,000 residents cut off from the rest of North Carolina by still-rising floodwaters from Florence began to receive food, water, and tarps Tuesday. Officials announced Monday afternoon that they had cleared a driving route to get needed supplies and first responders into Wilmington, but they didn't make the route public. About 700 rescues have happened in New Hanover County, where Wilmington is located. More than half of the city's homes and businesses are without power, officials said.

Human and animal waste is mixing with the swirling floodwaters, which have killed about 3.4 million chickens and turkeys on poultry farms. More than 5 million gallons of partially treated sewage spilled into the Cape Fear River after the power went out at a treatment plant, officials said, and the earthen dam of a pond holding hog waste was breached, spilling its contents.

About 100 dogs and cats that had to be saved when the roof started to collapse at the Carteret County Humane Society Shelter last week were given free checkups, fed and photographed Monday at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds. From there, they will go to other rescue groups so they can be adopted.

Florence shattered North Carolina's previous record for the highest rainfall total from a tropical system in the state. The top rainfall total in the state from Florence was 35.93 inches, which was recorded near Elizabethtown. The previous record was 24.06 inches from Hurricane Floyd in 1999.
Virginia. (Source: The Weather Channel)

Story Date: September 20, 2018