Several US states have been warned to expect the rain and flooding to continue for days to come
From the reported 13 deaths so far, the first two victims were a mother and her seven-month-old baby in North Carolina, who were killed when a tree fell on their home.
While it may be perceived that the worst has passed them by, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper has warned that the worst of the flooding is still on the way:
“The flood danger from this storm is more immediate today than when [it] made landfall 24 hours ago. We face walls of water at our coasts, along our rivers, across our farmland, in our cities, and in our towns.”
CNN are reporting that while the storm’s centre is currently slowly making its way over South Carolina, many of its main rain bands remain in place over already-saturated North Carolina, setting up what may be days of flooding for some communities. Serious flooding is expected throughout the two states, and some rivers may not crest for another three to five days.
While Florence has been downgraded to a tropical storm, there have still been tornado warnings in place for large parts of the country:
A tornado watch has been issued for parts of North Carolina until 7 AM EDT pic.twitter.com/iSoRjKhNIE
— NWS Raleigh (@NWSRaleigh) September 16, 2018
