North Carolina Floods Following Hurricane Matthew Traps Hundreds

Floodwaters swamped North Carolina towns on Monday as rescuers assisted hundreds of residents on Monday in the wake of Hurricane Matthews. Officials also cautioned that life-threatening flooding from mushroomed rivers would continue for days.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Monday that some villages and towns in Haiti had just been wiped out. The hurricane killed close to 1,000 people in the impoverished nation.

In the United States, the amount of casualties climbed to at least 23, with almost half in North Carolina.

North Carolina received as much as 18 inches (39cm) of rain over the weekend but skies were clear on Monday. Raging rivers and breached levees, however, remain major problems.

Eleven people died in the state and with rivers getting higher, the governor said he anticipated an increase in fatalities.

The White House said in a statement that the flooding provoked President Obama to declare a state of emergency in North Carolina on Monday. This makes funding accessible to affected individuals in ten counties damaged by the storm.

Governor Pat McCrory said that water and air rescues would carry on throughout the day. They counted around 2,000 residents trapped in their homes and on rooftops in Lumberton, off the Lumber River.

See Related News: As Matthew Departs, Battered Cities Focus on Recovery and Flood Control

More flooding expected

Central and eastern towns along the Lumber, Neuse, Cape Fear and Tar rivers expected major flooding. The National Weather Service forecast disastrous flooding due to anticipated overflowing of the Neuse river on Friday night.

On Monday afternoon, emergency officials in North Carolina’s Lenoir County declared a mandatory evacuation for businesses and residents near the Neuse River.

Several inland and coastal communities remained under water from storm surge or swarming rivers and creeks.

Governor Nikki Haley, in neighboring South Carolina, alerted that waterways were rapidly reaching capacity around the state.

Emergency services reported three storm-related deaths in her state, she said.

Downed power lines also elicited warnings as around 715,000 businesses and homes were without power on Monday night in North and South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia and Florida.

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