Hurricane Florence has caused over 40 deaths, trapping hundreds due to flooding
Environment — di Redazione
Hurricane Florence has passed, leaving dozens of deaths and extensive material damage in its wake. Millions of people were left without power.
Hurricane Florence has caused over 40 deaths, trapping hundreds due to flooding
Hurricane Florence has passed, leaving dozens of deaths and extensive material damage in its wake. Millions of people were left without power.
16 September – Florence had already caused at least 14 deaths in two US states. Volunteers rescued hundreds of people in emergency situations, while other rescue workers were still struggling to save residents trapped by flooding that had cut off homes and roads. Around 760,000 customers were left without electricity in North Carolina and 36,000 in South Carolina. However, the number of people without power was far higher, given that a single customer account can represent an entire household, according to CNN.
11:30 pm – At least four deaths had been confirmed, according to the Washington Post. The hurricane was downgraded to a tropical storm.
5:10 pm – The ocean surge driven by Hurricane Florence flooded the town of Belhaven, North Carolina, as shown in a video filmed on the ground.
1:00 pm – The eye of the storm was approaching the coast. According to local media, at least 150 people were trapped in the city of New Bern, awaiting rescue.
'We are coming to get you': 150 trapped by Florence floods in New Bern, NC on.wkyc.com/2p7C4hm
10:00 am – The first images of flooding caused by overflowing creeks and rivers were emerging from the United States. The photo below shows River Bend, North Carolina.
The first significant damage caused by waves driven by powerful gusts was also being recorded.
14 September, 8:45 am – Hurricane Florence was downgraded to category 1 on the morning of Friday 14 September. Nevertheless, the alert on the eastern coast of the United States was far from over. The main concern was the arrival of the storm surge on the mainland. The affected stretch of coastline is dotted with inlets, some of them very deep — and it is there that the most severe flooding was expected to occur. A map published by the American National Weather Service made this clearly apparent.
Important note as #Florence continues to close in on the Carolina coastline, storm surge is not just an "ocean" problem tonight. Significant surge is expected to occur in the NC inlets and rivers, some areas in excess of 9 feet!
Several images taken in New Bern, North Carolina, were emblematic of the situation.
I think this speaks for itself. Union point in New Bern, North Carolina.
9:15 pm – The coast of North Carolina had been battered for hours by the winds of Hurricane Florence. Late that afternoon, the eye was still 230 kilometres from the coast. Even so, at least six thousand people in the American state were already without electricity. From Monday onwards, around 1.7 million people had been evacuated from areas deemed to be at greatest risk. In North Carolina in particular, between 50 and 75 centimetres of rainfall was forecast, with the total potentially reaching one metre in some areas. However, as reported by Radio Canada, some people chose to stay regardless, fully aware that no rescue operations would be possible while the hurricane was passing through. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVBb2TQnbYU Update, 3:30 pm – The strong winds and rain expected along the coast of North Carolina had begun to make themselves felt. "The storm's rainband and winds made landfall at the Outer Banks (a barrier island chain off the American coast, ed.)", the National Hurricane Center announced.
The wind speed and intensity of Hurricane Florence, which was about to make landfall on the eastern coast of the United States at North Carolina, had dropped enough to reduce Florence to category 2 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, which measures the intensity of tropical cyclones — in the preceding days it had reached 4 out of 5 — but its impact, according to the American broadcaster CNN, would nonetheless be "catastrophic for millions of people".
According to an innovative study entitled The human influence on hurricane Florence, carried out in real time by researchers at Stony Brook University and two other American universities, in a world without climate change, Florence's intensity would have been lower. In particular, the diameter of Hurricane Florence will be 80 kilometres greater than it would otherwise have been as a result of global warming: this is because sea surface temperatures have risen and the air holds more moisture. The amount of rainfall to be deposited on North Carolina will also be 50 per cent higher. That amounts to 40 trillion litres, equivalent to the water needed to fill 15 million Olympic swimming pools, again according to CNN.
Follow the hurricane's path in real time
Unprecedented flooding for the region was forecast in particular, along with winds capable of causing significant damage from the morning of that day (local time, six hours behind us). The weather system was expected to move slowly inland, lashing the coast for days. Even though Florence was no longer considered a hurricane of enormous proportions, its size had grown and could cause disruption for the populations of Georgia and Virginia as well. The state of emergency had in fact been declared as far as Maryland and the United States capital, Washington.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkiaCalEajA