Five killed as Florence mauls US East Coast

International Desk: Five people have been killed as Florence mauls the US East Coast, knocking out power for hundreds of thousands of homes and downing trees.

The weather event has been downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm but forecasters still warn of life-threatening storm surges.

Winds of up to 70mph (110km/h) are also expected for several days as the weather system slowly grinds over.

Evacuation warnings have been in place for 1.7 million people in the area.

A mother and her infant were killed in Wilmington when a tree fell on their home on Friday. Officials say the child's father was also transported to hospital for injuries.

Two men in their 70s were killed in Lenoir County. One was killed when connecting an electrical generator, and family members say another man was killed in a wind-related death when checking on dogs outside his property.

A woman died from cardiac arrest in the town of Hampstead after emergency responders had their route to her blocked by downed trees, a county official said.

US officials say it remains extremely dangerous because of the risks posed by catastrophic flooding.

Forecasters say the storm surge, together with up to 3.5ft (1m) of rain over the next few days, could spawn a slow-motion disaster.

Some parts of North Carolina have already seen surges as high as 10ft in places.

Governor Cooper said the hurricane was likely to "continue its violent grind across the state for days".

Forecasters say it is now moving into eastern South Carolina, crawling along at just 3mph.
More than 20,000 residents have packed into North Carolina emergency shelters, and officials have told those still in the storm's path to stay in place.

In Jacksonville, North Carolina, officials had rescued more than 60 people overnight from a hotel that was collapsing in the storm.

Parts of New Bern, North Carolina, which is home to 30,000 people, were 10ft underwater on Friday.

At least 200 householders in the riverfront city had to be plucked to safety by authorities.

Source: BBC


risingbd/Sept 15, 2018/Mukul