Published: October 10,2016
According to North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory, 1,500 people are stranded in Lumberton by flooding Monday morning. People are stranded on roofs and rescues are underway, the governor said during a press conference Monday morning.
Initially, the governor said the flooding was heightened by a suspected levee breach. However, the National Weather Service said later in the day that there had been no breach.
According to the Associated Press, the rising Tar River forced the evacuation Sunday of Princeville, North Carolina, the oldest town in the nation incorporated by freed slaves back in 1865.
Despite Matthew's exit, much of North Carolina remains under a threat of flooding and nearly half a million are without power as of 7 a.m. Monday, according to the state's department of public safety.
"Hurricane Matthew is off the map. But it is still with us. And it is still deadly," North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory said in a press conference Sunday.
(MORE: How You Can Help the Victims)
The Neuse River has already hit record levels at Smithfield and could crest at record level in Goldsboro on Monday. The North East Cape Fear River is expected to crest near Chinquapin sometime Wednesday, according to weather.com meteorologist Chris Dolce.
“This is going to be a prolonged event,” McCrory said. “Rocky Mount, Goldsboro, Kinston, Greenville – every town in between. We will have very serious issues.”
Edgecombe County announced on its Facebook page that buses were being brought in Sunday evening to evacuate 2,000 residents from the town that was razed by flooding from Hurricane Floyd in 1999.
Eleven Deaths Reported
One person was killed in Johnson County when their car was washed away, McCrory said Monday.McCrory said during a press conference Saturday that one person died in Sampson County after their vehicle hydroplaned in heavy rain. Two others were killed in Bladen County when their vehicle became submerged.
A fourth victim drowned in Harnett County after the victim drove past a barricade and was swept away into a creek, the county sheriff told FOX8.
During a Sunday morning press conference, the governor said two deaths were also reported in Johnston County and one in Pittman County.
The News & Observer reported that one of the deaths was 19-year-old Diamond Shuntelle Bennett, whose car was swept away in flood waters on Interstate 95 near Four Oaks on Saturday night, according to Capt. Jeremy Johnson of the Four Oaks Fire Department.
One person died after five people were trapped inside a submerged Nissan Versa in Cleveland.
“Four escaped and were able to cling to trees until rescue arrived,” State Highway Patrol spokesman Lt. Jeff Gordon told The News & Observer. “The other they’re still looking for and is presumed deceased.”
On Monday, officials announced that two people previously reported missing had been found safe. McCrory said Sunday that while North Carolina woke to sunny, blue skies, the state was still "facing massive destruction, and sadly, death."
Noting that "it's not over for North Carolina," the governor said he had signed an expedited Major Disaster Declaration. The declaration provides a wide range of federal assistance programs for individuals and public infrastructure, including funds for both emergency and permanent work, according to fema.org.
Officials for the North Carolina Department of Transportation said Sunday that access to Dare County and Currituck County’s Outer Banks is restricted "due to greater impacts than anticipated from the storm." Only essential personnel, permanent residents and essential personnel for critical businesses will be permitted.
A state of emergency was declared in 43 counties after flooding shut down streets and trees were downed throughout the state.
Thousands of Rescues
The number of rescues has been daunting, numbering in the thousands.A 63-year-old woman, who was on her way home from her nursing job at a long-term care facility, clung to a tree for three hours after floodwaters from Hurricane Matthew swept her car into a canal in Wilson, AP reports.
North Carolina Highway Patrol troopers helped 25 vehicles after they became stranded on Interstate 95 Saturday. The cars got caught on a stretch of road between two parts of the flooded highway.
State officials say emergency responders have conducted at least 77 water rescues from cars and homes in Fayetteville alone, according to The News & Observer, including the dramatic rescue of a woman and her child from a car that got caught up in the floodwaters.
Hundreds more were reported in Cumberland County, according to the National Weather Service.
The U.S. Coast Guard rescued 10 people in North Carolina, including eight from rooftops in Pinetops, reports AP.
According to a news release, an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Elizabeth City on Sunday morning and took the eight people to Pitt-Greenville Airport.
The Coast Guard rescued two other people stranded Saturday night when their fishing vessel ran aground in Shallotte.
A crew from Savannah, Georgia, hoisted the two about midnight and took them to the airport in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Their vessel, Kokopia, remains aground with 300 gallons of diesel fuel aboard.
Multiple water rescues took place in Johnston County Saturday, according to the National Weather Service. People were reportedly trapped in their homes and on top of vehicles.
Richard Neal and his fiancee were riding out the storm on top of Frying Pan Tower, an old Coast Guard light station more than 30 miles off the Atlantic Coast.
Neal now owns the tower and rents it out as a vacation home after purchasing it from the government after it was abandoned in 2004. The platform is about 100 or so feet above the ocean, with no land in sight.
#NCNG Guardsmen & @NCEmergency services assist w evacuation efforts in Fayetteville, Oct. 08. Heavy rains led to flooding as high as 5'.
"I can honestly say that this is a solid old beast," Neal told The Associated Press on Saturday. "We are getting some amazingly huge waves that make it shake and tremor. But steel is amazingly tough."
(MORE: Hurricane Matthew: What We Know)
Neal
said he believed the tower would be safe because he "accidentally" rode
out Hurricane Arthur on it two years ago when he and his guests got
trapped by the storm and couldn't leave.
Neal said he coordinated with the Coast Guard and acknowledged he would be on his own should anything happen to the tower. He and his fiancee talked about going back to the mainland two or three times but made the decision to stay.
"You know she really must love me if she came out with me," he said.
Major Flooding Continues
Major
to near all-time record flooding is occurring along the Neuse River at
Clayton and Smithfield in the coming days. The Neuse River at Goldsboro
is forecast to exceed the record flooding from Hurricane Floyd by more
than two feet.
SO many road closures! You can get the latest on roads here: http://abc11.com/1545606/ #NCroads #ncwx
"I cannot stress how serious an issue this hurricane could cause to North Carolina, not only in damaging structures but also risking human life,” McRory said at a press conference Saturday morning. He added that authorities are concerned that because the storm was downgraded to a Category 1 hurricane, and residents would "let down their guard."
(MORE: Matthew Pounds South Carolina, Leaving Hundreds of Roads Impassable)
Hurricane Matthew "did downgrade in the wind, but it upgraded into the volume of water," McCrory said. "And water can kill, along with continued high winds. ... We still have serious concerns on the beaches. But most of our concerns right now are inland, where we're going to have surges on the major rivers coming into North Carolina, which could cause some serious, serious damage."
"This (storm) has the potential for North Carolina to see the worst flooding since Hurricane Floyd," said McRory, adding that they are most concerned with the Fayetteville area, which is "already inundated" from last week's heavy rain and flooding.
Several rivers were nearing or surpassing flood stage levels on Saturday, including Cape Fear River near Burgaw, Tar River at Greenville and Cashie River near Windsor. These rivers were expected to crest, with some places surpassing previous records, in the coming days.
Parts of I-40 and I-95 remained closed Sunday morning, reports The News & Observer. You can find updates on the closures here.
According to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, 435,836 remained without power as of Monday afternoon.
Officials also said that Cumberland County schools will be closed Monday as recovery from the storm continues.
The National Park Service reports that all visitor services and facilities at Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, and Wright Brothers National Memorial remain closed until further notice.
County offices and courts will also be closed Monday while floodwaters recede, according to the AP.
The University of North Carolina at Wilmington has canceled classes for Tuesday and East Carolina University has canceled classes for the remainder of the week. The ECU, Navy game scheduled for Thursday has been postponed until Nov. 19.
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