Hurricane Florence delivered a slow-motion assault to the coast of North Carolina early Friday, with catastrophic storm surge and torrential rains that will continue for days. The storm made landfall at Wrightsville Beach at 7:15 a.m., with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. But Florence, a Category 1 hurricane when it hit, already had pounded coastal areas for hours. The enormous storm crept at a 6 mph pace, making…

Updated: 9:30 p.m. The North Carolina Department of Public Safety is reporting more than 790,000 power outages across the state as Tropical Storm Florence continues its slow track toward the western part of the state.  The department says the highest concentration of outages are in New Hanover, Brunswick, Wake, Onslow and Carteret counties.  Duke Energy reports 533,400 customers are without power in the Carolinas, including 487,483 in North Carolina and 45,562 in South Carolina. Florence…

Updated: 8:40 p.m. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper’s office is reporting nearly 770,000 people in the state are without power as Tropical Storm Florence continues its slow track toward the western part of the state.  Duke Energy reports 521,573 customers are without power in the Carolinas, including 482,333 in North Carolina and 39,240 in South Carolina. Florence is expected to bring Charlotte and the western Carolinas 5 to 10 inches of rainfall with isolated parts…

Updated: 5:30 p.m. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper called the deaths of three people in Florence devastating and continued to warn the state’s residents to be vigilant with heavy rainfall expected in the days ahead. “This loss of life is devastating,” Cooper said in a press briefing Friday evening. “It’s devastating to the families and the friends of these victims. The fact is this storm is deadly and we know that we’re days away from…

Updated: 4:55 p.m. Florence has been downgraded to a tropical depression with a maximum sustained wind speeds of 70 miles per hour. In its latest advisory, the National Hurricane Center has also discontinued the storm surge watch south of Myrtle Beach, S.C., and north of Salvo, N.C., including Albemarle Sound. Updated: 4 p.m. Four people have died and hundreds of thousands are without power in North Carolina as Hurricane Florence has brought dangerous flooding and…

Updated: 3:40 p.m. A mother and her infant died in Wilmington after a tree fell on their home, according to the Wilmington Police Department, and one other person died while plugging in a generator in Lenoir County, according to the governor’s office. These are the first reported fatalities caused by Florence. Separately, a woman died after suffering a heart attack in Hampstead, N.C., according to a report from WUNC. First responders were unable to reach…

Updated: 3:15 p.m. A mother and her infant died in Wilmington after a tree fell on their home, according to the Wilmington Police Department, and one other person died while plugging in a generator in Lenoir County, according to the governor’s office. These are the first reported fatalities caused by Florence. Also, in a press briefing officials in South Carolina said there are 66,924 power outages in the state as of 2 p.m. Water rescues…

Updated at 1:20 p.m. More than 600,000 power outages are reported across North Carolina as Florence slowly moves west toward the North Carolina and South Carolina border. The North Carolina Department of Public Safety reports 604,375 power outages across the state at 1 p.m. Florence, now a Category 1 hurricane, has 75 miles per hour sustained winds and is moving at 6 miles per hour. The breadth of the hurricane’s reach — with hurricane-force winds…

Updated at 11:25 a.m. Almost half a million people in North Carolina are without power as Hurricane Florence slowly makes its way across the state, bringing flooding and dangerous high winds with it inland. Gov. Roy Cooper, who spoke at a briefing on Florence this morning, continued to warn residents that the threat of Florence will linger. “The sun rose this morning on an extremely dangerous situation and it’s getting worse,” Cooper said. “The storm…