More Than 900 Saved In NC Water Rescues: Gov. Cooper

CHARLOTTE, NC — By Sunday afternoon, more than 900 lives had been saved by water rescue teams from Hurricane Florence related flooding, as flood waters continue to rise and ravage the state, according to North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper.

“Flood waters are still raging and the risk to life is rising with angry waters," said Gov. Roy Cooper Sunday.

According to state emergency officials, the state currently has more than 1,000 first responders working in 214 swift water rescue boats, searching for people in need of rescue from their homes.

Florence, weakened to a tropical depression, continued to dump rain over the Carolinas, leading to flash flooding and major river flooding that shut down more than 170 major roadways in the state. At 11 a.m. Sunday, sustained winds had decreased to about 35 mph as the storm advanced at about 10 mph. The slow crawl was expected to dump 5 to 10 inches of rain in western and central North Carolina.

“These rainfall amounts will produce catastrophic flash flooding, prolonged significant river flooding, and an elevated risk for landslides in western North Carolina and far southwest Virginia,” the National Hurricane Center said Sunday morning.

Officially, 10 lives were lost during the storm in North Carolina, Cooper said.

Many areas of eastern North Carolina have received about 2-feet or more of rain due to Florence, with some areas of the state receiving more than 30 inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service.

“The strongest storm bands are dumping 2-3 inches an hour,” Cooper said Sunday, adding that it was enough to cause flooding in areas that have never flooded before.

Here is a National Weather Service map of forecasted rainfall through Wednesday:

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Photo: Kim Adams makes her way to her home that is surrounded by flood waters after Hurricane Florence passed through the area on September 15, 2018 in Southport, North Carolina. Hurricane Florence hit the North Carolina and South Carolina coastline bringing high winds and rain. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)