Drivers have been told to avoid North Carolina due to flooded roads from Hurricane Florence.
Major highways I-95 and I-40 have experienced flooding, which has gotten so intense around the state that the department noted that its current alerts may not be completely up to date.
Drivers traveling south or north toward the state should be aware that GPS systems are routing drivers into areas the department doesn’t recommend for travel.
Florence, now a Tropical Depression, is “expected to produce heavy and excessive rainfall over the next couple of days,” the center stated early Monday, Sept. 17.
“Floodwaters are raging across our state and the risk to life is rising with the angry waters,” Cooper said. “Yesterday I urged you to stay off the roads in most parts of the state. That warning still stands today, as the threat of flooded roads keeps spreading.”
A number of rivers, including the Cape Fear, Lumber, and Neuse, are expected to crest at record levels.
According to the statement, there have been 10 confirmed deaths, but others have been reported and are being investigated. Some reports said 17 people were dead.
Flooded roads have completely cut off the city of Wilmington, a city of nearly 120,000 people.
Officials plan to airlift food and water to the residents as rescuers elsewhere pull inland residents from homes threatened by swollen rivers.
In Wilmington, the state’s eighth largest city, residents waited for hours outside stores and restaurants on Sunday for basic necessities like water. Police guarded the door of one store, and only 10 people were allowed inside at a time.
Brock Long of the Federal Emergency Management Agency said not only to expect more impacts in North Carolina but also “you are about to see a lot of damage going through West Virginia, all the way up to Ohio as the system exits out.”
