The Latest: NC officials say flooding far from over
WILMINGTON, N.C. — The Latest on Florence’s lingering impact (all times local):
1:20 p.m.
North Carolina officials say even though the sun is shining in parts of the state, major flooding is continuing in the aftermath of Florence and is expected to worsen in some areas.
Gov. Roy Cooper says 16 rivers are at major flood stage Tuesday with an additional three forecast to peak Wednesday and Thursday.
He says he knows for many North Carolinians it feels like “a nightmare that just won’t end.”
About 10,000 people are in shelters across the state and around 343,000 are without power. Cooper says first responders have reported rescuing and evacuating more than 2,200 people and about 575 animals.
Officials say more than 1,100 roads are closed, 255 of those primary roads. The state’s two major interstates, I-40 and I-95, are closed in many locations.
There have been 26 confirmed fatalities in North Carolina due to the storm.
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1:20 p.m.
Authorities have opened two routes into the city of Wilmington, North Carolina, which for a time was completely cut off by floodwaters.
Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo told a news conference Tuesday that two routes via Interstate 40 are now open.
But Saffo and New Hanover County commissioner Woody White are still asking people to still stay away because those routes could flood again later. They also warned that other routes are still dangerous and sinkholes are developing under some of the flooded roads.
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1 p.m.
Florence has claimed a 26th victim in North Carolina.
Keith Acree is a spokesman for North Carolina Emergency Management.
He said Tuesday that the 26th victim is a 71-year-old man who died Sunday when his car ran off North Carolina Highway 210 in Pender County and into floodwaters.
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1 p.m.
Authorities have opened two routes into the city of Wilmington, North Carolina, which for a time was completely cut off by floodwaters.
Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo told a news conference Tuesday that two routes via Interstate 40 are now open.
But Saffo and New Hanover County commissioner Woody White are still asking people to still stay away because those routes could flood again later. They also warned that other routes are still dangerous and sinkholes are developing under some of the flooded roads.
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12:30 p.m.
The National Weather Service has confirmed that at least two tornadoes spawned by the remnants of Hurricane Florence touched down in Virginia.
One of those was responsible for the death of a man just outside Richmond.
The weather service in Wakefield, Virginia, says the storm has been categorized as an EF2 tornado, with winds of up to 120 miles (about 190 kilometers) per hour.
Meteorologist Mike Rusnak says the weather service also confirmed a second tornado touched down in Mecklenburg County, Virginia, near the border with North Carolina. That tornado was measured as an EF0, with wind speeds of 80 to 85 miles per hour (about 130 to 135 kph).
The second tornado brought down numerous trees and caused some structural damage.
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12:15 p.m.
A flash flood caused by the remnants of Hurricane Florence has killed a man in Virginia.
Virginia State Police spokeswoman Sgt. Keeli Hill says first responders found the man’s pickup truck upside down and submerged in water that had flooded Route 607 in Louisa early Tuesday morning. The area was drenched by thunderstorms and torrential rain overnight.
Hill says it appears that 59-year-old Richard Edward Kelih Jr. of Louisa was attempting to cross the road when his vehicle was overtaken by rushing water.
This is the second death in Virginia attributed to Florence. On Monday, an employee of a flooring company was killed when a powerful tornado touched down in Chesterfield, just south of Richmond, leveling the building.
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Noon
Florence is spreading its misery.
As the South continues to deal with massive flooding from the former hurricane, residents of the heavily populated Northeast are dealing with storm-related headaches of their own.
National Weather Service meteorologist Chris Legro says he received reports Tuesday morning of boats being used to rescue people from rising water in Derry, New Hampshire.
He said the rainfall was fast and furious, with more than 5 inches (13 centimeters) falling in Auburn, New Hampshire, in as little as six hours.
In New York, several roads in counties along the Pennsylvania border have been closed by flash flooding. The National Weather Service says more than 4 inches (10 centimeters) of rain had fallen by Tuesday morning from the Elmira area to counties in southeastern New York.
The weather service has issued flash flood warnings and watches for more than a dozen counties.
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10:45 a.m.
Heavy rainfall from the remnants of Hurricane Florence sent tens of thousands of gallons of untreated wastewater into a tributary of North Carolina’s Cape Fear River basin over the weekend.
The City of Greensboro said in a statement Tuesday that about 63,000 gallons (about 240,000 liters) of untreated wastewater flowed from a sanitary sewer main for about four hours on Sunday. Officials blame infiltration from heavy rainfall accumulated from Florence.
The untreated wastewater entered North Buffalo, a tributary of the Cape Fear River basin. Officials say the area was cleaned and flushed.
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10:30 a.m.
Still stranded by Florence’s floods, Wilmington, North Carolina, residents are lining up by the hundreds for free food, water and tarps as officials try to open new routes to one of the state’s largest cities.
Workers began handing out supplies Tuesday morning using a system that resembled a restaurant drive-thru: Drivers in long lines pulled up to pallets lining a street. They placed an order and left without having to get out.
Todd Tremain needed tarps to cover up spots where Florence’s high winds ripped shingles off his roof. Others got a case of bottled water or military ready-to-eat meals. An olive-green military forklift moved around huge pallets loaded with supplies.
Wilmington is still virtually cut off from the rest of the state, but officials say they’ll open routes as soon as flooding recedes and downed trees and powerlines are cleared away.
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10 a.m.
South Carolina’s governor plans to meet with top Department of Defense leaders to discuss the state’s response to Florence.
The South Carolina National Guard says in a news release that Gov. Henry McMaster was to meet Tuesday with U.S. Air Force Gen. Terrence J. O’Shaughnessy at the state’s emergency response headquarters.
O’Shaughnessy is Commander of the U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command.
Also scheduled to attend Tuesday’s briefing are the chief of the National Guard Bureau and the adjutant general of South Carolina.
McMaster flew over parts of the state Monday in a National Guard helicopter, observing areas already experiencing flooding from Florence. Officials say flooding could continue to worsen for several days as water flows into the state from flooded areas in North Carolina.
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1 a.m.
Officials are about to begin distributing food, water and tarps in Wilmington, North Carolina, which remains mostly cut off by floodwaters from Hurricane Florence.
County officials say workers will begin handing out supplies to stranded residents in the city of 120,000 people beginning Tuesday morning.
One road was opened into Wilmington at least briefly, and items have been brought into the city by big military trucks and helicopters.
The death toll from Florence has risen to at least 32 people in three states, with 25 fatalities in North Carolina.
Remnants of the once-powerful Category 4 hurricane are now a rainy, windy mass of low pressure. The system has speeded up on a path toward the heavily populated Northeast.
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