Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Officials say rivers in South Carolina could reach their highest levels by the end of this week or early next

Two mental health patients have died when the police van they were being transported in got caught in floodwaters in the US, police say.

The two officers escorting the pair were eventually rescued. The patients' deaths bring the death toll from Storm Florence to 37.

Thousands of homes and roadways in the region remain underwater less than a week after the storm made landfall.

President Donald Trump arrived in North Carolina on Wednesday to survey damage.

Mr Trump praised the response to the "devastating" storm by federal and local disaster officials at a news conference in North Carolina on Wednesday morning.

"Unfortunately, the money will be a lot, but it's going to come as fast as you need it," Mr Trump said. "We're going to take care of everybody."

Mr Trump will be heading to South Carolina next.

The storm's latest victims in South Carolina were identified as Wendy Wenton, 45, and Nicolette Green, 43, by the Marion County Coroner, US media report.

The Horry County Sheriff's Department said in a statement that when the waters overtook the van, they rose too quickly for the pair to be saved.

A high water team eventually rescued the two deputies who were escorting them. The deputies were able to climb atop the van as waters inundated the vehicle.

"Despite persistent and ongoing efforts, floodwater rose rapidly and the deputies were unable to open the doors to reach the individuals inside the van," the police statement said, according to the Greenville News.

"At this time, the recovery effort is ongoing, and the transportation vehicle cannot be removed due to rising waters and dangerous conditions."

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Florence has caused major flooding across the Carolinas

The detainees were women being transported from Waccamaw Mental Health and Loris Hospital to a behavioural health hospital in Darlington, South Carolina, according to the Associated Press.

"Tonight's incident is a tragedy," Sheriff Phillip Thompson told the Greenville News.

"Just like you, we have questions we want answered. We are fully co-operating with the State Law Enforcement Division to support their investigation of this event."

The tragic incident occurred near the Little Pee Dee River, which continues to rise as water from upriver North Carolina makes its way into South Carolina's waterways.

The Little Pee Dee has crested in some regions at over 46ft (14m) and its flooding has impacted town water supplies, officials say.

Florence has claimed eight lives in South Carolina thus far, and flooding is expected to worsen later this week and into next.

A long road to recovery

Thousands of homes are still underwater in the Carolinas and thousands of families have had to be rescued from the floods.

As of Wednesday, more than 3,000 people had been rescued in North Carolina and 20,000 federal and military personnel are supporting state efforts.

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper called Florence "a storm like no other" during a news conference with Mr Trump and federal officials on Wednesday.

"We are a beacon in the South and we have weathered storms before in our state. But Mr President, we have never seen one like this. This one has been epic. It has been disastrous. It has been widespread."

Interactive Slide to see flooding in North Carolina as a result of Hurricane Florence After Before

Brock Long, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), said the government is pushing disaster survivor assistance teams into the Carolinas.

"A disaster response like this takes all of us working together, not just the federal government," he said. "This event's not over. The rivers are still cresting we still have a lot of work to do."

The president has promised to completely support the Carolinas' recovery efforts.

"We will be there 100%," he said. "That's why we started early, and we'll be here late."</s>HORRY COUNTY, S.C. – Two mental health patients in South Carolina have died after being inside a transport van that flooded.

WPDE reported that it happened in Horry County on Highway 917 Tuesday night as the van was in still water on Pee Dee Island Road near the bridge.

The deputies in the van were rescued, but the patients who were chained in the back of the van died. Their names haven’t been released.

The patients were being taken from Loris Hospital and Waccamaw Mental Health Hospital to McLeod, according to WPDE.

Initial reports suggested that the victims were inmates, but officials have clarified that they were mental patients.

More information will be released as it becomes available.</s>Florence has taken the lives of two more people — this time while in law enforcement custody as they were transferred between health facilities. Horry County Sheriff's deputies were transporting two women when the van they were riding in was submerged in flood waters. The two "detained" women who died in Florence floodwaters were mental health patients.

Brooke Holden, the Horry County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson, told Bustle in a statement that the vehicle — staffed by two deputies — was traveling on Highway U.S. 76 from Conway to Darlington. That's a drive of about an hour and 20 minutes in good conditions. This area of South Carolina is inland to the northwest from Myrtle Beach.

Holden said when the vehicle was about half a mile from the Little Pee Dee River, it was "overtaken by floodwaters." She said that the deputies who were in the vehicle tried to free the two women but were unable to do so. "The two deputies attempted to extricate the persons being transported," Holden said. "Despite persistent and ongoing efforts, floodwater rose rapidly and the deputies were unable to open the doors to reach the individuals inside the van."

The deputies were rescued and by a high water rescue team from the top of the van and transported to a local hospital, local TV station WLOS reported. The vehicle remains in the floodwaters due to rising waters and dangerous conditions, although the "recovery effort" is ongoing.

Horry County Sheriff Phillip Thompson says in a statement provided to Bustle, "Tonight's incident is a tragedy. Just like you, we have questions we want answered. We are fully cooperating with the State Law Enforcement Division to support their investigation of this event."

The two women were first described as inmates but that was clarified in later reports, according to local news channel WPDE. They were confirmed dead by the Marion County Coroner, although they have not yet been publicly identified by name. "They were trying to negotiate through fast-running water, and it just didn't work out," Marion County Coroner Jerry Richardson told the AP.

South Carolina's State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) will investigate the incident. Bustle reached out to the SLED for more information on their investigation. The law enforcement agency confirmed to WPDE that they were sending agents to the area.

The WMBF news team reported that the Little Pee Dee River has been at flood stage since the weekend and won't crest until Friday when it is projected to reach 16 feet — a full seven above normal flood stage. The road conditions in South Carolina were widely reported, even as early as Tuesday morning, as a "growing web of road closures," according to Jennifer Berry Hawes at The Post and Courier, who also reported Tuesday morning that there were 60 road closures in just Horry County. The Horry County Sheriff's Office posted many warnings about the floodwaters on its Facebook and Twitter page earlier on Tuesday.

"WE’RE HERE FOR YOU," the office's Facebook post, shared from the county's emergency management office, said. "Our hearts go out to those affected by the flooding in our County, and we hope you know that we are here for you no matter what may come. #TeamHorry is out in the streets working to ensure that everyone stays safe and dry, and we’ll be here until everyone goes home."

The death of the two women brings the total count of those killed by the storm to 37.</s>COLUMBIA, S.C. — Two female mental health patients detained for medical transport drowned Tuesday night when a sheriff’s department van was swept away in rising South Carolina floodwaters, according to authorities.

Horry County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Brooke Holden said that a sheriff’s office van was carrying two “detainees” and two deputies to Darlington when it was overtaken by floodwaters. Officials said that the van was near the Little Pee Dee River, one of the bodies of water that state officials are watching following the heavy rains of Florence.

READ MORE: Trump to visit flooded North Carolina in aftermath of Hurricane Florence

Marion County Coroner Jerry Richardson confirmed to The Associated Press early Wednesday the victims were Windy Wenton, 45, and Nicolette Green, 43.

“They’re still under the water,” he said. “It’s come up 2 feet since just last night.”

Richardson said the van came across rising water and was carried off the road.

WATCH: While Hurricane Florence may be gone, rising floodwaters still a problem in the Carolinas

“They were trying to negotiate through fast-running water, and it just didn’t work out,” he told AP.

Holden said that deputies tried to get the victims out but couldn’t. Rescue teams plucked the deputies from the top of the van.

WATCH: Flooding causes boats to wash ashore in North Carolina

Horry County Deputy Tom Fox told WPDE-TV the victims were mental health patients being transported from one facility to another. Holden wouldn’t give further details on the victims’ status, citing an ongoing state police investigation. State police spokesman Thom Berry told the AP on Wednesday that agents were on the scene aiding in the recovery effort.

In a release, Horry County Sheriff Phillip Thompson said his office would cooperate with the probe.

“Tonight’s incident is a tragedy,” he said. “Just like you, we have questions we want answered.”</s>Several questions remain unanswered after two South Carolina mental health patients died yesterday. The victims, both female, were being transported in a police van when floodwaters overtook their vehicle.

A Horry County Sheriff's Office van was taking Windy Wenton, 45, and Nicolette Green, 43, to McLeod Behavorial Health in Darlington, South Carolina, Chief Deputy Tom Fox told WLTX. Two deputies were in the van with them, though Wenton and Green were in the back.

Disaster struck when the van was overcome by flood waters in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence, which has devastated the region in recent days. Both deputies escaped the van, then attempted to save Wenton and Green. But "despite persistent and ongoing efforts, floodwater rose rapidly and the deputies were unable to open the doors to reach the individuals inside the van," the sheriff's office said in a statement.

The deputies made it to the top of the van, where they were rescued by a high-water team. But nothing could be done to save the two women they were transporting. Both women were declared dead last night, Marion County Coroner Jerry Richardson told WPDE, though first responders were not immediately able to retrieve the van with their bodies in it. "They're still under the water," Richardson told the Associated Press this morning. "It's come up two feet since just last night."

In a statement, Horry County Sheriff Phillip Thompson called the deaths a "tragedy," while noting that the two deputies have been placed on administrative leave. "Just like you, we have questions we want answered," he said.

One of the biggest questions: Were Wenton and Green shackled in the back of the van?

Multiple outlets, including ABC News, the New York Post, and the New York Daily News, say the patients were either "shackled" or "chained." When reached for comment by Reason, a spokesperson for the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division, which is investigating the incident, said he couldn't confirm that they were shackled. He explained the van was still underwater, though officials were working on a "plan" to recover it later today.

Determining whether Wenton and Green were in chains is important. If they were, then that could have kept them from escaping the van with their lives. It would also raise another question: Why were two mental health patients chained up in the back of a police van in the first place? And why were they moved yesterday, and not before Florence made landfall, especially when state and local officials knew for days that severe flooding was likely?

The deaths of Wenton and Green bring the storm's deathtoll to 37. Though in this case, it's possible Florence isn't to blame so much as the officers transporting the two women and the department that waited so long to relocate them.</s>Two female mental patients chained in the back of a county sheriff's van drowned when the vehicle in which they were traveling was overcome by floodwaters, police said.</s>Two mental health patients who drowned when a sheriff’s van was swept away by floodwaters are among the dozens killed by Storm Florence.

Two mental health patients who drowned when a sheriff’s van was swept away by floodwaters are among the dozens killed by Storm Florence.

US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has arrived in storm-ravaged North Carolina and helped volunteers at a church in the hard-hit coastal town of New Bern.

“How’s the house?” Mr Trump was heard asking one person as he distributed plastic foam containers of food, including hot dogs, chips and fruit. “You take care of yourself.”

Wilmington, population 120,000, was still mostly an island surrounded by floodwaters, and people waited for hours on Tuesday for handouts of food, water and tarps. Thousands of others around the state waited in shelters for the all-clear.

“I know it was hard to leave home, and it is even harder to wait and wonder whether you even have a home to go back to,” governor Roy Cooper said.

After submerging North Carolina with nearly 3ft of rain, the storm dumped more than 6.5 inches of rain in the northeast, where it caused flash flooding.

Mr Cooper warned that the flooding is far from over and will get worse in places.

“I know for many people this feels like a nightmare that just won’t end,” he said.

Addressing roughly 10,000 people who remain in shelters and “countless more” staying elsewhere, Mr Cooper urged them to stay where they are for now, particularly those from the hardest-hit coastal counties that include Wilmington, near where Florence blew ashore on Friday.

Roads remain treacherous, he said, and some are still being closed for the first time as rivers swelled by torrential rains inland drain toward the Atlantic.

In South Carolina, two women died on Tuesday evening after a van taking the mental health patients from one facility to another was overtaken by rising floodwaters near the Little Pee Dee River, authorities said.

The risk of environmental damage mounted, as human and animal waste was washed into the swirling floodwaters.

More than 5 million gallons of partially treated sewage spilled into the Cape Fear River after power went out at a treatment plant and the earthen dam of a pond holding hog waste was breached, spilling its contents. The flooding killed an estimated 3.4 million chickens and 5,500 hogs on farms.</s>Two women in South Carolina drowned when the vehicle they were being transported in was swept away by floodwaters caused by Hurricane Florence, the Horry County Sheriff Office confirmed to ABC 4.

On Tuesday night, two Horry County sheriffs were transporting two mental-health patients to medical facilities in Florence and Darlington when floodwaters overtook the van and carried it off of the road, the department said in a statement. The deputies tried to rescue the women, who were in chained restraints, but they could not open the doors to the vehicle as the waters surged.

“Despite persistent and ongoing efforts,” the statement from the sheriff’s office reads, “floodwater rose rapidly and the deputies were unable to open the doors to reach the individuals inside the van.”

The Horry County Sheriff Office has yet to respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment.

As of Tuesday night, the van could not be retrieved from the area. The Marion County Coroner identified the two patients as Windy Newton, 45, of Shallotte, North Carolina, and Nicolette Green, 43, of Myrtle Beach.

The two deputies were later rescued from atop the van by a high-water rescue team.

The van was traveling in the area of the Little Pee Dee River, which CBS News says is a body of water officials in South Carolina have been keeping watch on for flooding following the heavy rains of Florence.

“We are currently working with the SCDNR to recover the vehicle,” Horry County Sheriff Phillip Thompson said on Wednesday morning. “Due to dangerous conditions and rising waters, additional search and rescue teams are arriving to assist in the recovery of the vehicle.”

According to ABC 4, the two women may have been in chained restraints in the rear of the vehicle.

“Just like you, we have questions we want answered,” the department said on Tuesday. “We are fully cooperating with the State Law Enforcement Division to support their investigation of this event.”

RELATED VIDEO: 3-Month-Old Baby Dies After Tree Falls on Mobile Home During Hurricane Florence

The department is working with the State Law Enforcement Division in an investigation into the incident. There will also be two other inquiries, including a traffic investigation and an internal investigation, they said.

Thompson says the two rescued deputies have been placed on administrative leave.

Nearly 40 people have died as a result of Hurricane Florence, latest numbers from CBS News reveal. Nearly 343,000 people are still without power in North Carolina.</s>Two mental health patients killed after transport van overcome with flood water

MARION COUNTY, SC (WOLO) – Two mental health patients died in flood waters Tuesday (9/18) night in Marion County.

According to the Coroner there, the transport van the patients were in was overcome with flood water.

Coroner Jerry Richardson says the pair was being transported by the Horry County Sheriff’s Office, on their way to Darlington and Florence Counties.

It happened on Highway 76 near Pee Dee Island Road.

Richardson confirmed that two deputies were able to get out of the transport van, though could not confirm how the victims died.

The van will likely remain in the flood waters until Wednesday morning, according to the Coroner.</s>Two women in the back of a sheriff’s van drowned Tuesday evening when deputies tried to drive down a South Carolina road flooded by tropical storm Florence.

The Horry County Sheriff’s Office described the women as detainees, although a county coroner told the Associated Press they were mental-health patients — Windy Wenton, 45, and Nicolette Green, 43 — being transported to a facility farther inland.

“They were trying to negotiate through fast-running water, and it just didn’t work out,” said the coroner, Jerry Richardson.

Richardson said the deputies and two patients began the trip that afternoon from a hospital near Conway, where tributaries of the Pee Dee River are overflowing their banks. They traveled northwest, on their way to Darlington about 100 miles away, across an obstacle course of blocked roads and swollen waters.

They were about halfway through the trip by 6 p.m., on Highway 76 near the Little Pee Dee River, when the van encountered the running water. According to some accounts, water swept the vehicle off the road.

In a statement, the sheriff’s office said the two deputies escaped from the cab and tried to get the women out of the back. “Despite persistent and ongoing efforts, floodwater rose rapidly, and the deputies were unable to open the doors,” the statement reads.

By the time a rescue team arrived, the deputies were stranded on top of the van, and it was too late for the women. Richardson, who serves as coroner in adjacent Marion County, confirmed their deaths that night, but authorities had to leave the bodies and van in the water until conditions were less hazardous.

"They’re still under the water,” Richardson told the AP on Wednesday morning. “It’s come up two feet since just last night.”

Horry County referred all questions about the incident — including whether the women had been locked up or were merely being transported — to state investigators, who said they had no new information to release.

Mental hospitals from which the women were reported to have been taken could not immediately be reached for comment. The two deaths will push Florence’s toll across three states to nearly 40 victims.

“Tonight’s incident is a tragedy,” Horry County Sheriff Phillip Thompson said in Tuesday’s statement. “Just like you, we have questions we want answered.”

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The death toll rises to 37 after two mental health patients died when the police van in which they were being transported got caught in floodwaters.