Florence crashed ashore Friday morning in North Carolina as a Category 1 hurricane, and it has wiped out power to about 796,000 customers in that state and SC.
Serious flooding is expected throughout the two states, and some rivers may not crest for another three to five days.
"I can not overstate it: Floodwaters are rising, and if you aren't watching for them you are risking your life", the state's governor Roy Cooper said. "Florence's 18 trillion gallons is as much water as there is in the entire Chesapeake Bay", its article says.
North Carolina officials warned motorists not to drive on roads in a large area - south of the I-64 and east of the I-73/74 highways - because of hazardous conditions in the southeast of the state.
With flood waters rising rapidly in many communities, stranded people were being rescued by boat and by helicopter, while tens of thousands of others hunkered down in shelters.
Rivers and creeks rose towards historic levels, threatening flash flooding that could devastate communities and endanger dams, roads and bridges. Even by week's end the city could be experiencing minor flooding from the river. The Transportation Department is strongly recommending that residents find high ground and remain there until the risk of flooding has decreased.
Ex-hurricane Florence's top sustained winds have weakened to 80-kilometres-per-hour but it's projected to bring further catastrophic flash flooding. Fort Bragg, a sprawling U.S. Army base, is just west of Fayetteville.
Hoffman, North Carolina, has seen 19.96 inches and Conway, South Carolina, has seen 8.68 inches - with two days of rainfall to come.
- A woman in SC who struck a downed tree while she was driving.
Many vehicles were seen submerged in the rising flood waters after Hurricane Florence struck Wilmington, North Carolina, on Saturday. Florence set a record in the state for rain from a hurricane, dumping 33.9 inches (86 cm) in Swansboro, North Carolina.
Earlier this week, when it announced it was temporarily unlocking extra battery capacity in a number of cars of customers affected by Hurricane Florence. It was downgraded to Category 1 before coming ashore on Friday near Wilmington.
By Sunday night, Florence's winds had dropped to about 30 miles per hour (45 kph), the National Hurricane Center said, with some weakening forecast over the next 24 hours before intensifying once again as an extratropical low-pressure center.The center of the storm was about 45 miles (70 km) north-northeast of Greenville and moving north at 10 mph (17 kph), the hurricane center said. Some area residents described a harrowing retreat as the storm hit.
"And from that point, we started hearing where people were saying on phone calls, 'I love you, ' to their family members because they were not sure they were going to get out of it alive", she said Friday.
More than 641,000 homes and businesses were without electricity in North and SC and surrounding states, down from a peak of almost 1 million.
There is a mandatory evacuation order for the area, officials said.
A mother and her child were killed in Wilmington when a tree fell on their home on Friday.
Flood waters had receded, and her husband was able to return home to retrieve their vehicle, blankets, food and clothing, Moore said. "He calmed the waters and he's going to look after us". "So yeah, not safe", Ochoa said.
President Donald Trump said federal emergency workers, first responders and law enforcement officials were "working really hard". Trump plans a visit to the region next week.
As the United States dealt with Florence, a super typhoon made landfall in China's Guangdong on Sunday after barrelling past Hong Kong and Macau and killing at least 29 people in the Philippines.
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