Toll in US storm increases to 13, flooding and surges continue

Washington: The death toll from tropical storm Florence that made landfall in the US east coast, has increased to 13, with authorities warning of continued rains and flooding.

Of the 13 victims, nine died on Friday night, while the rest were killed on Saturday, according to the officials.

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 South Carolina, according to a source.

ALSO READ: Hong Kong raises typhoon alert to highest level as Mangkhut approaches

Officials warned that the flooding was only just starting.

"The flood danger from this storm is more immediate today than when it. made landfall 24 hours ago," North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said on Saturday.

"We face walls of water at our coasts, along our rivers, across our farmland, in our cities and in our towns."

Across the Carolinas, officials are sounding the alarm: More communities will flood as rivers collect water from upstream and spill over.

Officials have declared states of emergency in several states, including in the Carolinas, Georgia, Virginia and Maryland, where coastal areas are still recovering from summer storms.

According to the National Hurricane Centre, the storm will travel through upstate South Carolina, be downgraded to a tropical depression, then turn north toward the Ohio Valley.

As it moves near Ohio and West Virginia, it will become a remnant low.

Then it will swing to the northeast in the middle of next week on a path to the Atlantic Ocean near Nova Scotia, where it will be an extra-tropical low with gale-force winds.

IANS