Gary D. Robertson, Martha Waggoner and Alan Suderman Associated Press
Dead fish lie around the edges of Greenfield Lake in Wilmington N.C., Sunday, September 23, 2018. The fish began dying following the landfall of Hurricane Florence but no official explanation has been given by the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality. (Matt Born/The Star-News via AP) AP | The Star-News
Maura Walbourne sits in the front of a canoe looking in at her flooded Long Avenue home as David Covington wades through the wreckage in Conway, S.C. Sunday, Sept. 23, 2018 The Sherwood Drive area of Conway began to look like a lake on Sunday as homes were submerged deeper than ever in flood waters that have already set historic records. (Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP) AP | The Sun News
Floyd Boyd is reflected in floodwaters as he measures the water in his car port and finds it inches from entering his home on Sunday, Sept. 23, 2018 in Conway, S.C. The Sherwood Drive area of Conway, S.C., began to look like a lake on Sunday as homes were submerged deeper than ever in flood waters that have already set historic records. (Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP) AP | The Sun News
David Covington jumps from a porch railing to his canoe along with Maura Walbourne and her sister Katie Walborne in Conway, S.C., Sunday, Sept. 23, 2018. The three paddled a canoe to Covington's home on Long Avenue on Sunday to find it flooded and the floor boards floating. (Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP) AP | The Sun News
United States Coastguardsmen navigate an inflatable boat up Sherwood Drive in Conway, s.c., checking on residents on Sunday, Sept. 23, 2018. records. (Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP) AP | The Sun News
Coastguardsmen and Conway Police help Denise Fulmer from her flooded Busbee Street home on Sunday, Sept. 23, 2018, where she would be relocated to a shelter at Conway Recreation Center. The Sherwood Drive area of Conway, S.C., began to look like a lake on Sunday as homes were submerged deeper than ever in flood waters that have already set historic records. (Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP) AP | The Sun News
Floodwaters from the Cape Fear River cover Water St. in downtown Wilmington, N.C., Sunday, Sept. 23, 2018. (Matt Born/The Star-News via AP) AP | The Star-News
Dead fish lie around the edges of Greenfield Lake in Wilmington N.C., Sunday, September 23, 2018. The fish began dying following the landfall of Hurricane Florence but no official explanation has been given by the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality. (Matt Born/The Star-News via AP) AP | The Star-News
Jimmy English, left, and Bubba English with Wildlife Removal Service measure a five and a half foot alligator that was found under a house off Shipyard Blvd. in Wilmington N.C., Sunday, September 23, 2018. English said that it's not unusual to find alligators that have become disoriented after a major storm. He expects to see more when all of the waters recede.(Matt Born/The Star-News via AP) AP | The Star-News
John Davis grabs meals to had out at the NC Baptist Men's relief site at First Baptist Activity Center in Wilmington N.C., Sunday, September 23, 2018. The organization was distributing more than 16,000 meals on Sunday.(Matt Born/The Star-News via AP) AP | The Star-News
Flooding from Sutton Lake has washed away part of U.S. 421 in New Hanover County just south of the Pender County line in Wilmington, N.C., Friday, Sept. 21, 2018. (Matt Born /The Star-News via AP) AP | The Star-News
Godfrey Guerzon takes a picture of floodwaters from the Cape Fear River at the foot of Market St in downtown Wilmington, N.C., Sunday, September 23, 2018. The river is expected to crest on Monday night. (Matt Born/The Star-News via AP) AP | The Star-News
Auxilia Gerard, left, and Lou Anne Liverman help to fill boxes for individual meals at the NC Baptist Men's relief site at First Baptist Activity Center in Wilmington N.C., Sunday, September 23, 2018. The organization was distributing more than 16,000 meals on Sunday. (Matt Born/The Star-News via AP) AP | The Star-News
Floodwaters from the Cape Fear River cover Water St. in downtown Wilmington, N.C., Sunday, Sept. 23, 2018. (Matt Born/The Star-News via AP) AP | The Star-News
The Hotel Ballast is reflected in floodwaters from the Cape Fear River along Water St. in downtown Wilmington, N.C., Sunday, Sept. 23, 2018. The river is expected to crest on Monday night. (Matt Born/The Star-News via AP) AP | The Star-News
A road is flooded from Hurricane Florence in the Avondale community in Hampstead, N.C., Friday, Sept. 21, 2018. (Matt Born /The Star-News via AP) AP | The Star-News
Jimmy English with Wildlife Removal Service secures the mouth of a five and a half foot alligator that was found under a house off Shipyard Blvd. in Wilmington N.C., Sunday, Sept. 23, 2018. English said that it's not unusual to find alligators that have become disoriented after a major storm. He expects to see more when all of the waters recede. (Matt Born/The Star-News via AP) AP | The Star-News
FILE - In this Monday, Sept. 17, 2018 file photo, a resident stands on the roof of her house amidst flooding brought about by Typhoon Mangkhut which barreled into northeastern Philippines during the weekend and inundated low-lying areas in its 900-kilometer wide cloud band, in Calumpit township, Bulacan province north of Manila, Philippines. With global temperatures rising, superstorms taking their deadly toll and a year-end deadline to firm up the Paris climate deal, leaders at this year’s U.N. General Assembly are feeling a sense of urgency to keep up the momentum on combating climate change. Monday, Sept. 17, 2018(AP Photo/Bullit Marquez, file) AP | AP
Jimmy Poston holds a sunfish caught by hand in the flood waters of a front yard on Bay Road Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018, in Brittons Neck, S.C. Most houses were cut off completely Saturday, with water on the front steps and creeping closer to the porch. Many residents were concerned that the flooding Great Pee Dee River will increase damage to their community. (Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP) AP | The Sun News
Marvin Singleton and Michele Larrimore motor past the Pine Grove Baptist Church on the way to check out Larrimore's home on Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018, in Brittons Neck, S.C. The flooding from the Little Pee Dee River is cresting on Saturday, but many residents are concerned that the floodwaters will increase damage to their community. (Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP) AP | The Sun News
S.C. Highway 22 is flooded between SC-90 and SC-905 on Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018, in Conway, S.C. An officer with the South Carolina State Highway Patrol marks the water level to compare against previous days. The blocked road has traffic snarled around Conway and the Waccamaw River continues to rise past record levels. (Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP) AP | The Sun News
S.C. Highway 22 is flooded between SC-90 and SC-905 on Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018, in Conway, S.C. An officer with the S.C. State Highway Patrol marked the water level to compare against previous days. The blocked road has traffic snarled around Conway. (Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP) AP | The Sun News
S.C. Highway 22 is flooded between SC-90 and SC-905 on Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018. The blocked road has traffic snarled around Conway, S.C. (Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP) AP | The Sun News
Candi Cisson, left, stands on the porch of the flooded home where she lives with her fiance Brian Terry on Bay Road Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018, in Brittons Neck, S.C. Most houses were cut off completely Saturday, with water on the front steps and creeping closer to the porch. Many residents were concerned that the flooding Great Pee Dee River will increase damage to their community. (Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP) AP | The Sun News
Flooding of the Little Pee Dee River is nearing the crest in Brittons Neck, S.C., but many residents are concerned that the floodwaters will increase damage to their community, Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018. (Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP) AP | The Sun News
BLADENBORO, N.C. — Thousands of coastal residents remained on edge Sunday, told they may need to leave their homes because rivers are still rising more than a week after Hurricane Florence slammed into the Carolinas.
About 6,000 to 8,000 people in Georgetown County, South Carolina, were alerted to be prepared to evacuate ahead of a “record event” of up to 10 feet (3 meters) of flooding expected from heavy rains dumped by Florence, county spokeswoman Jackie Broach-Akers said. She said flooding is expected to begin Tuesday near parts of the Pee Dee and Waccamaw rivers and that people in potential flood zones should plan to leave their homes Monday.
The county’s emergency management director, Sam Hodge, said in a video message posted online that authorities are closely watching river gauges and law enforcement would be going door to door in any threatened areas.
“From boots on the ground to technology that we have, we are trying to be able to get the message out,” Hodge said in the video feed, advising people they shouldn’t await an official order to evacuate should they begin to feel unsafe.
In North Carolina, five river gauges were still at major flood stage and five others were at moderate flood stage, according to National Weather Service. The Cape Fear River was expected to crest and remain at flood stage through the early part of the week, and parts of Interstates 95 and 40 are expected to remain underwater for another week or more.
But floodwaters already receding on one stretch of Interstate 40 left thousands of rotting fish on the pavement for firefighters to clean up. Video showed firefighters blasting the dead fish to the highway shoulder with a fire hose in Pender County in eastern North Carolina. The local fire department posted on their website: “We can add ‘washing fish off of the interstate’ to the long list of interesting things firefighters get to experience.”
North Carolina Emergency Management Director Michael Sprayberry said that eastern counties continue to see major flooding, including areas along the Black, Lumber, Neuse and Cape Fear rivers.
He said residents who register with the Federal Emergency Management Agency can begin moving into hotels Monday. The program initially will be open to residents in nine counties and then will be expanded. A FEMA coordinator said about 69,000 people from North Carolina have registered for assistance so far.
“Hurricane Florence has deeply wounded our state, wounds that will not fade soon as the flood waters finally recede,” Gov. Roy Cooper said Saturday. The storm has claimed at least 43 lives since slamming into the coast Sept. 14.
In Washington, Congress is starting to consider almost $1.7 billion in new money to aid recovery efforts from Florence. Lawmakers already are facing a deadline this week to fund the government before the start of the new budget year Oct. 1, and members of Congress are expected to try to act on the disaster relief along with separate legislation to fund the government.
The chairman of the House Appropriations Committee said the money would be available as grants to states to help rebuild housing and public works, and assist businesses as they recover from the storm. GOP Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen of New Jersey called that “a first round” and that lawmakers are ready to act quickly if the federal disaster relief agency also needs more money.
An economic research firm estimated that Florence has caused around $44 billion in damage and lost output, which would make it one of the top 10 costliest U.S. hurricanes. The top disaster, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, cost $192.2 billion in today’s dollars, while last year’s Hurricane Harvey cost $133.5 billion Moody’s Analytics estimates Florence has caused $40 billion in damage and $4 billion in lost economic output, though the company stressed that the estimate is preliminary.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster has estimated damage from the flood in his state at $1.2 billion. He asked congressional leaders to hurry federal aid.
In other developments, at least three wild horse herds survived Florence on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, but caretakers were still trying to account for one herd living on a hard-hit barrier island, the News & Observer reported Sunday. Staff members are planning to make trips to the island this week to check on the Shackleford Banks herd.
Elsewhere in North Carolina, state environmental officials also said they’re closely monitoring two sites where Florence’s floodwaters have inundated coal ash sites .
And the National Hurricane Center in Miami said it was keeping an eye on fast-moving Tropical Storm Kirk in warm tropical Atlantic waters southwest of the Cabo Verd Islands still far from land. It said a newly formed subtropical storm in the North Atlantic, Leslie, was expected to dissipate in a few days.
———
Waggoner and Robertson reported from Raleigh, North Carolina. Also contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina; Meg Kinnard in Galivants Ferry, South Carolina; Denise Lavoie in Richmond, Virginia; Jay Reeves in Birmingham, Alabama and Michael Biesecker in Washington.
Readers around Glenwood Springs and Garfield County make the Post Independent’s work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.
Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.
Each donation will be used exclusively for the development and creation of increased news coverage.
Start a dialogue, stay on topic and be civil. If you don't follow the rules, your comment may be deleted.
Longtime Roaring Fork Valley golf club professional Doug Rohrbaugh is set to play in this weekend’s Senior PGA Championship at Harbor Shores Golf Club in Benton Harbor, Michigan.