WILMINGTON, N. C. (AP) – The Latest on Tropical Depression Florence (all times local): 5:55 p.m. North Carolina’s chief lawyer says he’s…
WILMINGTON, N. C. (AP) – The Latest on Tropical Depression Florence (all times local):
5:55 p.m.
North Carolina’s chief lawyer says he’s looking into accusations that retailers are bilking customers through exorbitant prices as Hurricane Florence and the storm’s remnants have crossed the state.
Attorney General Josh Stein said Sunday his office has received 500 complaints so far alleging price-gouging for essentials like gas and water, as well as excessive hotel prices for evacuees. Stein says investigations of gas stations have already begun.
The price-gouging law took effect when Cooper declared a state of emergency more than a week ago. It prevents retailers from charging “unreasonably excessive” prices for goods used in an emergency. The law allows Stein’s office to stop the high pricing and seek refunds for consumers. Civil penalties also are possible.
Stein also warned citizens to be careful about finding reputable businesses to perform home repairs or tree removals following the storm and about choosing reputable charities for recovery donations.
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5:20 p.m.
Officials have confirmed a 16th death attributed to Florence.
The South Carolina Department of Public Safety says a pickup truck was traveling east on a road near Gilbert, South Carolina, around 6 a.m. Sunday when it drove into standing water on the roadway.
Officials say the driver, identified as 30-year-old Rhonda R. Hartley, lost control and went off the side of the road, hitting a tree. The driver died at the scene.
Officials in South Carolina are warning about dangerous flash flooding throughout the state as rains from the remnants of Hurricane Florence continue.
The driver’s name wasn’t immediately released.
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5:20 p.m.
Flood waters fueled by Florence’s heavy rains have submerged instruments used by the federal government to monitor river levels in North Carolina, causing at least two of them to stop working.
The U. S. Geological Survey said Sunday that a gauge on the Cape Fear River near Chinquapin stopped transmitting after hitting its limit of 24.2 feet (7.38 meters). A gauge on the Trent River in Trenton, North Carolina, stopped working when water levels hit 21.5 feet (6.55 meters). Major flood stages at those sites occur when the rivers reach 15 or 16 feet (4.6 or 4.9 meters).
Supervisory hydrologist Douglas A. Walters says more gauges are likely to become submerged and stop working. The gauges are normally installed well above the heights floodwaters are expected to reach. USGS crews have been working in the field over the weekend to raise some gauges even higher.
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5:05 p.m.
Tropical Depression Florence has picked up speed as it continues dumping heavy rains over the Carolinas.
The National Hurricane Center says Florence is moving north at 14 mph (22 kph) – a brisk pace compared to its sluggish crawl across the region since Thursday, when it barely topped speeds at which most humans can walk.
Florence’s top sustained wind speeds held at 35 mph (55 kph). By 5 p.m. Sunday, Florence was centered about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south-southeast of Greenville, South Carolina, and about 60 miles south-southeast of Asheville, North Carolina.
Forecasters say Florence is still expected to produce excessive rainfall as it turns from the Carolinas over the Mid-Atlantic and southern New England early this week.
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5:05 p.m.
Motorists who would ordinarily travel through North Carolina are still being asked to stay out because of poor road conditions in the aftermath of Florence.
Bill Holmes, a state spokesman, said Sunday the message is: “Please don’t come through here if you can avoid it.”
Authorities say flooding is widespread, conditions are changing constantly and the roads need to be kept clear for first responders. High water has led to closures on Interstates 40 and 95, two major arteries.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation posted a map online of what it acknowledged was an “extremely long detour” through Tennessee and Georgia for travelers heading south on Interstate 95. It also warned that GPS systems are routing users into areas the department doesn’t recommend for travel.
A map with real-time road conditions is available online .
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4:35 p.m.
Floodwaters from Florence are lapping at doorsteps of some homes in the town of Bennettsville, South Carolina, where firefighters used an inflatable boat to get some residents to dry ground.
Heavy rain from the remnants of Hurricane Florence caused the street to flood Sunday on Talon Drive where Mildred Smith lives across the street from her niece, Jovanaka Smith.
Water had seeped to their front porches Sunday afternoon when firefighters came to the neighborhood, wading door-to-door through ankle-deep water and asking residents to leave.
The Smiths packed some spare clothes and medications before getting into a rescue boat. They didn’t have to go far. Firefighters dropped them off at the neighboring home of a relative that remained on dry ground.
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4:15 p.m.
Duke Energy says the collapse of a coal ash landfill at a closed power station near the North Carolina coast is an “ongoing situation,” with an unknown amount of potentially contaminated storm water flowing into a nearby lake.
Duke spokeswoman Paige Sheehan said Sunday that a full assessment of how much ash escaped at the Sutton Power Station outside Wilmington can’t occur until it stops raining. She said there was no indication that contamination from Sutton Lake had drained into the nearby Cape Fear River.
The company initially estimated on Saturday that about 2,000 cubic yards (1,530 cubic meters) of ash were displaced at the landfill, which is enough to fill about 180 dump trucks. Sheehan said that estimate could be revised after a further examination of conditions at the site.
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4:15 p.m.
Rivers are rising to dangerous levels and city parks have become submerged in water as unrelenting rain brought by Tropical Depression Florence continues to come down on Fayetteville, North Carolina, and the surrounding area.
The Cape Fear River, which passes through the city, continued to rise Sunday. The National Weather Service says the river had reached 41 feet (12.5 meters) by 2 p.m., 6 feet (2 meters) above flood stage. The river is expected to crest at 62 feet (19 meters) Tuesday, prompting a mandatory evacuation for areas within 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) of the river.
Fayetteville resident Charles Jockers says the slow rise may lull people into complacency. He says despite an evacuation order, in-town traffic has been increasing over the past few days.
Heavy rain continued to fall in Fayetteville on Sunday, and the national weather service predicts 1 inch to 2 inches (2.5 to 5 centimeters) of rain will fall overnight. Rain is forecast to slow to a trickle of less than a tenth of an inch by Tuesday night.
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3:45 p.m.
Officials in southwest Virginia are urging residents to evacuate ahead of potentially “life-threatening” flash flooding.
The city of Roanoke is asking residents who live in a flood plain to leave their homes ahead of heavy rains expected to begin Sunday afternoon as Florence moves out of the Carolinas and heads north.
Roanoke said they expect potentially deadly flash flooding could continue through Monday afternoon. The Red Cross has opened a shelter in the city.
The National Weather Service said Florence could bring as much as 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain in the region and lead to major river flooding that could last for several days.
The Floyd County Sheriff’s office said on Facebook that the majority of creeks and rivers that officials surveyed Sunday were “at or just outside of their banks.”
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3:30 p.m.
The National Weather Service has declared a flash-flood emergency for part of the county that is home to North Carolina’s biggest city.
The emergency was put into effect Sunday afternoon for central and southeastern Mecklenburg County. The weather service says streams and creeks are running very high in south Charlotte, Matthews and nearby areas.
The weather service warns some bodies of water have risen to record stages and impacts may be “unprecedented.”
The city of Charlotte tweeted that residents should stay off the roads.
A flash-flood emergency also was declared for adjacent Union County, where the weather service says several water rescues were underway and emergency management officials reported as many as 70 flooded roads.
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3:30 p.m.
South Carolina officials are warning residents about flash flooding as rains from Florence continue to pelt the state.
Gov. Henry McMaster told reporters on Sunday that it will be days until the cresting of rivers in the area of most concern, along the state’s border with North Carolina.
Officials have been warning for days that flooding could be disastrous in the Yadkin-Pee Dee River basin, into which several swollen rivers that originate in North Carolina flow.
National Weather Service officials noted that as much as 16 inches (40 centimeters) of rain have fallen in Chesterfield County, with other nearby areas marking similar rainfall totals from Florence..
Transportation Secretary Christy Hall says workers are still working on projects along two roadways to divert rainwater to keep U. S. 378 and U. S. 501 Bypass passable.
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3:20 p.m.
The White House says President Donald Trump has spoken to the mayors of New Bern, North Carolina, and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, as he monitors the response to Florence.
The White House says Trump was also briefed Sunday on the storm’s aftermath by Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, Coast Guard Commandant Karl Schultz and Brock Long, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Trump and Mayors Dana Outlaw of New Bern and Brenda Bethune of Myrtle Beach discussed rescue-and-response efforts in those communities.
The White House says Outlaw thanked Trump for immediately authorizing an emergency declaration to help speed the delivery of federal assistance.
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2:05 p.m.
A small town in northeast South Carolina is getting flooding rains from what’s left of Florence.
Downpours overnight flooded main roads in the town of Cheraw early Sunday and brought water to the doorsteps of some low-lying homes.
Cheraw Police Chief Keith Thomas says about 12 people were evacuated from four homes. Police rescued five others from cars that stalled out in floodwaters. Thomas says no one was injured.
The flooding largely receded from the town of about 6,000 people by Sunday afternoon. But Thomas said rain could fall until midnight.
Debbie Covington was nervously watching water rise in a drainage ditch near her home. She evacuated her elderly parents from their house next door, which sits directly beside the overflowing ditch.
Covington said roads blocked by water and fallen trees were making it difficult to drive.
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2 p.m.
The death toll from Florence has risen to 15.
The South Carolina Highway Patrol says a pickup truck was traveling west on Interstate 20 in Kershaw County on Sunday morning when it went off the roadway. Troopers say the truck struck an overpass support beam, and the driver died at the scene.
Kershaw County Coroner David West says the driver’s name has not been released because all relatives have not yet been notified.
Heavy rain has fallen on portions of central and eastern South Carolina after former hurricane-turned-Tropical Depression Florence moved onshore.
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1:10 p.m.
Some officials rely on the “Waffle House index” to determine how serious a storm is.
