Page 6 - ARUBA TODAY

A6 U.S. NEWS
Tuesday 18 sepTember 2018

Emergency crews throw supply lifeline to isolated Wilmington

By CHUCK BURTON and east, which is in for as much
MARTHA WAGGONER as 4 inches (10 centimeters)
WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) of rain, before the system
— Throwing a lifeline to a moves offshore again.
city surrounded by flood- Flooding worries increased
waters, emergency crews in Virginia, where roads
delivered food and water were closed and power
to Wilmington on Monday outages were on the rise.
as rescuers picked up more In all, about 420,000 homes
people stranded by Hur- and businesses in three
ricane Florence and the states were in the dark.
storm's remnants took aim Most of the outages were
at the densely populated in North Carolina.
Northeast. The death toll climbed by
The death toll from Flor- three as authorities found
ence rose to at least 21, the body of a 1-year-old
and crews elsewhere used boy who was swept away
helicopters and boats to after his mother drove into
rescue people trapped by floodwaters and lost her
still-rising rivers. grip on him while trying to
"Thank you," a frazzled, get back to dry land. Else-
shirtless Willie Schubert where in North Carolina, an
mouthed to members of 88-year-old man died after
a Coast Guard helicopter his car was swept away.
crew who plucked him and Authorities in Virginia said
his dog Lucky from atop a one person was dead after
house encircled by water an apparent tornado.
in Pollocksville. It was not Florence, once a fearsome
clear how long he had Category 4 hurricane, was
been stranded. still massive. Radar showed
A day earlier, Wilmington's parts of the sprawling storm
entire population of 120,000 over six states.
people was cut off by Fears of what could be the
flooding. By midday Mon- worst flooding in the state's
day, authorities reopened history led officials to order
a single unidentified road tens of thousands to evac-
into the town, which stands uate, though it was not
on a peninsula. But it wasn't clear how many had fled
clear if that the route would or even could.
remain open as the Cape Emergency officials had
Fear River kept swelling. difficulty keeping up with
And officials did not say the scope of the spread-
when other roads might be ing disaster. In Lumberton,
clear. An unidentified family member carries Ruth Brady to safety at the Wilmington airport in Wilming- where the Lumber River in-
In some places, the rain fi- ton, N.C., Monday, Sept. 17, 2018. undated homes, Fire Chief
nally stopped, and the sun Associated Press John Paul Ivey couldn't
peeked through, but North even count how many calls
Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper residents. "Things are get- borhoods. generator at home, Nick authorities had received
warned that dangerously ting better slowly, and we At the White House, Presi- Monroe waited in a half- about people needing to
high water would persist for thank God for that," White dent Donald Trump said mile-long (more than half- be rescued.
days. He urged residents said. Mayor Bill Saffo said almost 20,000 military per- kilometer) line at a Speed- "We've been going so hard
who were evacuated from he was working with the sonnel and federal workers way station even though and fast we don't have a
the hardest-hit areas to stay governor's office to get were deployed to help with the pumps were wrapped number yet," he said.q
away because of closed more fuel into Wilmington. the aftermath. in plastic. His power went
roads and catastrophic "At this time, things are "We will do whatever it off Thursday before Flor-
flooding that submerged moving as well as can be in takes to keep the Ameri- ence hit the coast, but
entire communities. the city," he said. can people safe," Trump he couldn't recall exactly
"There's too much going Crews have conducted said. when.
on," he told a news confer- about 700 rescues in New Preliminary statistics from "It's all kind of a blur," Mon-
ence. Hanover County, where the National Oceanic and roe said.
About two dozen truck- more than 60 percent of Atmospheric Administra- At another gas station, a
loads of military MREs and homes and businesses tion showed Florence had long line of vehicles fol-
bottled water were deliv- were without power, au- the fourth-highest rainfall lowed a tanker truck that
ered overnight to Wilming- thorities said. total of any hurricane to pulled in with 8,800 gallons
ton, the state's eighth-larg- Compounding problems, hit the U.S. mainland since (33,000 liters) of fuel.
est city, officials said. downed power lines and 1950, with 35.94 inches Downgraded from a tropi-
The chairman of New Ha- broken trees crisscrossed (91.2 centimeters) at Eliza- cal depression, the deadly
nover County's commis- many roads in Wilmington bethtown, North Carolina. storm still had abundant
sioners, Woody White, said three days after Florence Harvey's total of 60.58 inch- rain and top winds around
three centers would open made landfall. The smell of es (60.5 centimeters) last 25 mph (35 kph). Forecast-
by Tuesday morning to be- broken pine trees wafted year in Texas is No. 1. ers said it was expected to
gin distributing essentials to through damaged neigh- Desperate for gas to run a continue toward the North-