The remains of what was Hurricane Florence have at last moved off to the Northeast and are still producing heavy rain across parts of New England and the Mid-Atlantic states. But before it left the area, the slow-moving storm dropped three feet of rain on parts of North Carolina. The runoff from all that water is continuing to swell area streams and rivers, so that days after the storm’s first impact flooding is still far from peak in some areas. The city of Wilmington remains all but cut off from the surrounding world. with access limited by swelling rivers that have blocked major highways.
CBS News reports that half a million people in the area are still without power. The Cape Fear River reached record levels overnight and is expected to crest far above flood stage some time on Tuesday afternoon. FEMA has set up distribution points within Wilmington for residents, some of whom are running low on food and water after days under Florence’s rain and wind. Twenty high-water trucks have arrived from Fort Bragg, carrying food and water enough for 60,000 people — about half the population of Wilmington — for the next four days. Those stores in the area that remain open are running low on essential supplies.
Meanwhile, both emergency officials and volunteers from multiple states continue to conduct rescues of families stranded in attics, on rooftops, and in flooded vehicles. The total number of these rescues is now in the thousands with 700 rescues in the last two days just in the Wilmington area. The Louisiana-based volunteer group known as the “Cajun Navy” has been credited with rescuing over 10,000 people. CBS was with the group as they rescued 40 residents of a flooded nursing home near Lumberton, North Carolina.
Most residents of the Outer Banks, which took the brunt of the storms wind and well as suffering from storm surge and rain, were evacuated before Florence arrived. NOAA is now making available high-resolution post-storm satellite images with which those living on the barrier islands can check on the conditions of their homes. However, it may still be some time before many of these residents are able to visit their homes in person, as roads in many areas remain flooded and bridges and overpasses may have suffered damage.
While residents of the nursing home and many others could not have left the region, there are some decisions that clearly beggar belief.
As the scope of the disaster and the scale of the recovery effort within North and South Carolina become evident, it’s worth remembering that the record 36” of rain received at Elizabethtown, North Carolina was exceeded by the 38” recorded at several locations around Puerto Rico during Hurricane Maria. And the mountainous terrain in Puerto Rico meant that the rains washed out roads and other infrastructure, as well as generating deadly mudslides. And while Florence moderated before reaching land as a borderline Category 1 / Category 2 storm, Maria came aground with winds raging at 180 mph. It was in all ways a larger storm, affecting more people, over a bigger area.
Those people didn’t have the kind of volunteer crews that have driven in from across the country to conduct boat rescues for stranded families in North Carolina. Neither did it have the tens of thousands of utility workers who have been pulled in from across half the country in an effort to quickly restore the regional power grid. They were left at the mercy of Trump’s disinterest and a power contract awarded to a two-person company in Montana.
Trump is expected to visit the region on Wednesday. In the meantime, Donald Trump Jr. is “helping” the situation by feeding conspiracy theories.