Florence still a powerful storm
drenching the Carolinas and causing
catastrophic flooding
sadly Florence is already being blamed
for four deaths including a mother and
baby
we begin with local 10 News reporter
Andrew Perez who's riding out the storm
in Wilmington North Carolina
Andrew we were talking about this a
little bit earlier today think about it
this storm came on land is a category
one it downgraded and just look at all
the damage that it did all the things
that we're seeing that have happened now
and I'm not just talking about things
like this I mean these are familiar
sites during most major storms the
downed power lines the giant trees that
we are finding on almost every street
here in Wilmington I am talking about
those fatalities though search and
rescue crews they're still out and about
right now the force of Florence felt in
Wilmington North Carolina we were at
this house where a tree came crashing
down two people a mother and her infant
were killed a powerful storm bringing
whipping winds and swing trees that we
saw early this morning from our hotel
the rainy conditions continuing all day
long
those in the storm's path please stay
sheltered in place do not go out in this
storm this low nature of Florence will
lead to heavy flooding all throughout
the area in the city of New Bern
hundreds of residents have called for
help with officials dispatching Swift
boats to stranded citizens our National
Guard our Department of Defense we have
high water vehicles and teams that are
ready to go and you can actually see the
large tree type just crash down on that
room there in the back I mean just to
get to this site with such a mission
there are so many trees and powerlines
that are just blocking all the roads the
focus now for local and federal
officials is to conduct rescue
operations as safely as possible we're
focused really on safety and security
and rescue missions we have over I think
it's close to 1300 search-and-rescue
people and assets on the ground more
than half a million people in the region
are already without power and could be
in the dark for days if not weeks so
taking a live look right now you've also
got to understand we still don't have a
full understanding of the total impact
of the storm of all the damage that has
been
done it's still early on this storm is
still passing through we have heard
about many rescues today people that
needed to be rescued not only from the
flooding that you saw there but also
from fires and Andrew at this point I
mean it's obvious that still more is
going to come the whole back half of
this storm it must be hard to fathom
when you're right there well what's so
incredible which we have been talking
about all week long this is not a
surprise to us is that this is a very
slow-moving storm I mean this is
something that it's gonna take a long
time we felt the worst of those wind
gusts a lot of that video that you saw
around 6:30 7:00 7:30 in the morning
here we are so many hours later and
there are still so many people across
the Carolinas that are feeling those
strong gusts right now we still have to
deal with the back half of this storm as
well so folks for the most part have
been hunkering down kind of riding it
out which is what I was gonna ask -
about a curfew tonight we've talked
about curfews in the past what about
tonight
nothing has changed everybody's still
expected to be indoors because let's
pretend that all this weather cleared up
and everything was nice and calm once
again you've still got the trees you
still got the powerlines you still got
any worries that somebody you know may
be electrocuted or that a branch falls
down those are things that officials
really want locals here to keep in mind
stay safe andrew bryan norcross is
telling us there is now record rainfall
in Wilmington North Carolina no surprise
to you but it's going to get worse we'll
check back shortly thank you hundreds of
thousands of people are already without
power and there are dramatic rescues as
Andrew talked about going on across the
Carolinas just get 2 News reporter Amy
venturi in the newsroom with dramatic
images she's been pulling in Gloria and
Calvin the damage is extensive and much
of it being caused by water tonight many
of those who have stayed behind are now
having to be evacuated or rescued and
right now you're looking at live
pictures this is Myrtle Beach South
Carolina you can see how conditions have
really worsened - they're very gray
windy conditions but again we have not
seen the worst of it yet
New Bern North Carolina was on the
receiving end of much of the early
damage from Hurricane Florence downtown
at least one roof collapsed and the
streets were littered with debris some
trapped by the storm said they couldn't
afford to get out we knew that it was a
flood all but we never really had the
finest to get all my family out of the
area so we just stayed
that's where search and rescue teams
became vital making their way through
flooded streets to pull people from
damaged homes and apartments joining the
official effort the so called Cajun Navy
originally formed in Louisiana in the
aftermath of Hurricane Katrina groups of
private boat owners rode out to help
where they could some volunteers found
frightened pets wading through the flood
waters and pulled them aboard soaked but
now safe after it seems owners left them
to fend for themselves
the fences are down so there's no way
for those animals to stay there now
they're coming back to the house the
eyewall of the storm captured here by a
homeowner in Leland North Carolina as
Florence tore across the small town
northwest of filming
category-1 force winds may have been
less than initially feared but they were
enough to destroy this gas station in
Wilmington and a bridge in Wilmington
was submerged in floodwaters the sound
of the wind continuing to whip through
the area and here's a live look now at
Wilmington North Carolina again lots of
flooding in this waterfront area that we
have been looking at but could things
get even worse all of these scenes that
we have been showing you something that
could continue throughout the Carolinas
as we know forecasters have been warning
that the greatest rainfall is still to
come
Calvin