Hurricane Florence is pummeling the North Carolina coastline, nearing landfall this morning with life-threatening storm surges and hurricane-force winds.
As North Carolina residents brace for the impact of the Category 1 storm, nearly 300,000 customers in the state were without power early Friday morning.
Here’s the latest:
Catastrophic flooding is feared in much of the coastal Carolinas. Rainfall has already reached as much as 2 inches per hour in parts of eastern North Carolina.
More than a foot of rain has already drenched Atlantic Beach, North Carolina.
In Bayboro, North Carolina,
In New Bern, North Carolina, where water levels reached 10 feet overnight, 150 people have requested rescue. Volunteers are using private boats to pitch in and help, city spokeswoman Colleen Roberts said.
The downtown area, at the confluence of two rivers, is mostly underwater.
“You may need to move up to the second story, or to your attic, but WE ARE COMING TO GET YOU,” the city said on Twitter.
The rainfall is forecast to reach 20 to 40 inches over the next several days.
Storm surge could be as high as 11 feet in parts of North Carolina, prompting officials to closely watch the rise of rivers in the eastern part of the state. River flooding may be worse than Hurricane Floyd in 1999. The Cape Fear River is expected to in major flood stage by Sunday and record flood stage by Monday.
“Surviving this storm will be a test of endurance, team work common sense and patience,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said Thursday. “The heavy rains and high winds are likely to spread across North Carolina and linger for days.”
“We will survive this, and we will endure,” he said.
ABC News’ Alex Faul, Nick Coulson and Kieran Mcgirl contributed to this report.
