Hurricane Florence death toll reaches 31
Hurricane Florence, that battered the US states of North and South Carolina has so far killed 31 people, the authorities said. Six out of the 31 dead were from South Carolina, while the other 25 were killed in North Carolina, the local media on Monday reported, while quoting the authorities.
Deaths were reported due to different rain related incidents, that included drowning, while some were killed due to traffic accidents. In separate incidents, some were even killed by trees that fell on their houses.
Nearly 5,00,000 people remained without electricity, while hundreds of thousands of people were forced to leave their homes. Thousands were evacuated to safer places due to the hurricane.
Hurricane Florence is moving away from the two affected states at a speed of 22 kph, according to the data published by the National Hurricane Centre (NHC) on Monday. The storm also caused heavy rainfall in the area over the weekend.
North Carolina governor on Monday declared the hurricane as a monumental disaster for the state.
"This is a monumental disaster for our state," he said.
"This is an epic storm that is still continuing because the rivers are still rising," the governor added.
Warnings for “historical and catastrophic river flooding” have also been issued by the National Weather Service for the coming days.
