Florence’s heavy rains cause flooding across Carolinas; 17 killed in storm

RNN: As it moves north, Tropical Depression Florence continues to dump rain on North and South Carolina in already-flooded areas, where 17 deaths have been reported. Eleven of those deaths were in North Carolina, and six were in South Carolina.

Two children – one 3 months old in Dallas, NC, and the other 8 months old in Wilmington, NC – were killed when trees fell on their respective homes. The 8-month-old’s mother was also killed.

The 120,000 Wilmington, NC residents are cut off by flood waters from the rest of the state. Officials plan to air lift food and water to the coastal city, but are eyeing inland flooding. And with that increased flooding - many rivers are not expected to crest until Monday or later - the death count will rise.

“Not only are you going to see more impact across North Carolina ... but we’re also anticipating you are about to see a lot of damage going through West Virginia, all the way up to Ohio as the system exits out,” Brock Long of the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Sunday on Fox News.

Florence continues to dump heavy rain over North Carolina, northeastern South Carolina and western Virginia, according to the National Weather Service. Historic and likely catastrophic flooding is expected.

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