The misery of the Carolinas in Florence’s wide path of destruction

“I’d like to think we’re past the worst of it. But it’s kind of like plumbing — the water’s going to come down those rivers.”

— Lt. David Daniels of the New Bern Police Department

That was the drama of Friday. Now, New Bern is only the first of places devastated by a lumbering and stubborn storm that will not quit. Florence, even as a tropical depression, continues to drown much of the Carolinas, pushing down the coast and up into Virginia. By Monday, the storm had claimed at least 23 lives, closed nearly 200 primary roads and sections of Interstate 95, and plunged millions into the dark. It is testing the mettle of all in its path, many of whom lived through the devastation of Hurricane Matthew two years ago.

As Florence persists, the battered Carolina landscape looked like this.

“I had my house raised for Irene ’cause I got flooded from the bottom. Now I’m getting flooded from the top.”

— Daniel Lilly, while covering his roof, to the Associated Press

Those spared Florence’s intensity at landfall knew the water would push on. Officials ordered new evacuations.

In Fayetteville, N.C., located 100 miles inland near Fort Bragg, and Lumberton, seat of the state’s largest county by land, people who lived through the massive flooding of Hurricane Matthew in 2016 braced for rivers and streams to crest at new levels sometime midweek. Rain pounded down, creating new hazards for rescuers by the hour.

Thirty-five miles south in Lumberton, officials were emptying senior homes and relying on an aging levee to contain a swollen river.

“I don’t think we can stand another one. I can’t do this again.”

— Nichole Worley to the AP

In Florence’s aftermath, at least six people had died by Monday afternoon in South Carolina, a state where officials were also anticipate flooding from overwhelmed waterways. A flash flood watch is in effect, and thousands of National Guard members had been deployed to assist with evacuations and water rescues.

Power outages turned nightfall into an eerie darkness.

On the coast, the North Carolina town of Wilmington was hit first last week when Florence made landfall at nearby Wrightsville Beach. Then the rain kept falling and the rivers, gathering water upstream, kept rising.

By Monday, roads leading in and out of the city were swamped, handicapping access to Wilmington and residents trapped there. Long lines looped outside restaurants and stores, their entrances guarded by police as people waited for food, gas and water.

“Floodwaters are still raging across parts of our state, and the risk to life is rising with the angry waters.”

— North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) at a news conference