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A6 U.S. NEWS
Thursday 27 sepTember 2018
New Florence flooding forecasts are good news for S. Carolina

By MEG KINNARD and JEF- ment on pending litigation,
FREY COLLINS but noted the "extraordi-
BUCKSPORT, S.C. (AP) — nary storm" devastated
The last community in the Lumberton and other com-
way of Hurricane Florence's munities with its flooding.
floodwaters as they slowly Also in Robeson County,
flow to the sea got some Sheriff Kenneth Sealey
good news Wednesday — said his deputies with help
the predictions aren't as from National Guard high-
dire as they once were. clearance trucks rescued
And it appears the Wac- 400 animals — which in-
camaw River won't top a cluded dogs, cats, horses,
lake of coal ash or the main peacocks, chickens, quail
highway to Myrtle Beach. and potbellied pig — from
Officials originally expect- a flooded property after
ed flooding in the worst ar- some were seen stranded
eas of Georgetown County on a rooftop in the Orrum
to be from 5 to 10 feet (1.5 community. About 300
to 3 meters). But the lat- more animals were found
est forecast lowered that dead on the property over
estimate to 2 to 4 feet (0.6 the weekend, Sealey said.
to 1.2 meters), according Authorities were meeting
to the county's Facebook In this Monday, Sept. 24, 2018 photo, flood waters from the Neuse River cover the area in Kinston, with prosecutors Wednes-
page. N.C. a week after Hurricane Florence. day to see if the people
"The water is spreading," Associated Press responsible for the animals
Georgetown County Ad- should face charges.
ministrator Sel Hemingway about 2,000 homes have The forecasts could change porary sandbag berm un- But even in places that
said Wednesday. "We are been damaged by flood- again, officials warned, der a bridge until an emer- saw the worst of Florence,
not seeing the vertical rise." ing in South Carolina, with and South Carolina Gov. gency order from the gov- there were signs that life
Twelve days after the once- half of them suffering ma- Henry McMaster joined the ernor at the last minute. was returning to normal. In
fierce hurricane arrived on jor damage or being de- call for residents to not let The lawsuit said the under- Wilmington, North Carolina,
the coast, and more than stroyed, said state Emer- their guard down. pass also created a gap in where swollen rivers cut off
a week after it blew north gency Management Divi- "We are still in full battle a levee that made flood- the city of 117,000 people
and dissipated, rivers swol- sion Director Kim Stenson, mode in Georgetown ing worse during Hurricane from the rest of the country
len by its relentless rains are adding those numbers are County," McMaster said Matthew in 2016 and cited for several days, the Uni-
still flooding homes and far from final with flooding at a news conference a report in May where the versity of North Carolina at
businesses in their paths still occurring that could af- Wednesday. state called for a flood- Wilmington will restart class-
as they make their way to fect hundreds or thousands There appeared to be gate. CSX issued a state- es on Oct. 8, Chancellor
the sea. And even the new of additional homes. good news in Conway, ment that it doesn't com- Jose Sartarelli said.q
flooding forecasts are still Ivory Williamson took a too. The Waccamaw River,
well above records set just boat Wednesday to check which flows through the city
two years ago by Hurricane on her home she left four of 23,000, spent more than 11 people charged in
Matthew. days ago in Bucksport, a a day at just over 21.1 feet
(15 centimeters) under the drug treatment fraud
The death toll from the small inland community (6.4 meters), some 6 inches
storm is still adding up. about 12 miles (19 kilome-
North Carolina officials ters) from Myrtle Beach predicted crest.
blamed the death of a near the confluence of sev- That averted potential en- involving pellets
67-year-old man who frac- eral rivers. Water is all over vironmental and transpor-
tured his neck cleaning up her yard and covers the tation problems. The river
storm debris Sept. 18 in Cra- roads, streets and buildings. water stayed 1 foot (30 SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) ticipating in the scheme
ven County on the storm. It is worse than the 2016 centimeters) below a coal — Eleven people includ- through a business called
Florence has killed at least flooding from Hurricane ash pond at a closed pow- ing doctors have been SoberLife USA. A tele-
47 people — 36 in North Matthew, she said. er plant in Conway, ac- charged in Southern Cali- phone message seeking
Carolina; nine in South Car- "Now it's the second time," cording to the state-owned fornia in an alleged insur- comment was left for the
olina; and two in Virginia. Williamson said. "We live utility Santee Cooper. ance-fraud scheme in- owner, Thuy Rucks, 78, of
In many places in the near the water, but we The floodwater from the volving an implant surgery Mission Viejo.
Carolinas, the damage is won't expect the water to river also had not made that purportedly helps "All told, SoberLife USA is
already done. North Caro- bury us like this." it over a temporary bar- drug addicts and alcohol- accused of billing these
lina agriculture officials es- The flood wasn't going to rier quickly built on U.S. ics, Orange County's top insurance providers over
timate $1.1 billion in losses go away quickly. The new- Highway 501, the main link prosecutor said Wednes- $6.8 million in health care
from Florence, most of it est predictions from South to Myrtle Beach. Water day. "Orange County's claims for this experimen-
done to crops in the field. Carolina officials moved is touching the barrier of become what's known as tal, non-FDA-approved
That was nearly three times back the peak of the sand and plastic called the the 'Rehab Riviera' due to and potentially danger-
the damage reported by flooding from Thursday to Lifeline, but is still well below the proliferation of insur- ous surgery," Rackauckas
farmers from Hurricane either Friday or Saturday the top of it, according to ance fraud and the at- said. All were scheduled
Matthew in 2016. Agricul- in Georgetown County, the state Department of tractiveness of our com- to be arraigned Thursday
ture Commissioner Steve where the most seriously Transportation. munities," District Attorney on various charges includ-
Troxler said the losses this flooded waterways — the In North Carolina, residents Tony Rackauckas said in ing conspiring in unau-
year were greater because Waccamaw and Pee Dee in Lumberton sued CSX announcing the case.Five thorized practice of medi-
harvests were underway or rivers — meet three other Corp. saying the railroad doctors, two administra- cine, insurance fraud,
just getting started. rivers on their way to the company refused to give tors and four body brokers and false and fraudulent
Preliminary estimates show Atlantic Ocean. permission to build a tem- were charged with par- claim.q