Florence is out of the Carolinas but left a trail of misery in its wake, killing dozens of people, flooding critical areas and destroying property. Headlines: At least 33 people have been killed in the storm and its aftermath, including 26 in North Carolina. More than 2,600 people and nearly 600 animals have been rescued. 342,884 remain without power. and its aftermath, including 26 in North Carolina. More than 2,600 people and nearly 600 animals have been rescued. 342,884 remain without power. Fayetteville and Lumberton are both at risk for flooding.The Cape Fear River is expected to crest at 61.5 feet by Wednesday, and the Lumber River was cresting Tuesday but will stay in major flood stage into next week. and are both at risk for flooding.The Cape Fear River is expected to crest at 61.5 feet by Wednesday, and the Lumber River was cresting Tuesday but will stay in major flood stage into next week. Interstate 95 remains closed from Johnston County to the South Carolina line, and Interstate 40 remains closed from I-95 to Wilmington. President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit hard-hit areas in North and South Carolina on Wednesday. DOT has cleared a route to get emergency supplies into Wilmington, which has been effectively cut off from the rest of the state by flooding. The state port at Wilmington will open Wednesday to help get supplies to the area. HELPFUL LINKS: Videos, images by city Get help, give help | Lives claimed by Florence Tuesday, Sept. 18 5:45 p.m.: Bald Head Island has 2 to 6 feet of standing water and sustained extensive beach erosion from Hurricane Florence, according to Bald Head Island Rentals. "We fully expect the island to be closed for a while," the real estate firm said in an email. "Structurally, most homes appear intact. While some are missing shingles, damaged first floors, etc., most homes are built high enough to withstand water on the first floor." 5:30 p.m.: The state Department of Transportation has closed the Person Street Bridge over the Cape Fear River in Fayetteville because of flooding, and officials said nearby Grove Street might also be closed as well. The bridge became a popular spot for people to watch the flooded river's level rise in recent days. 4:30 p.m.: FEMA has deployed 65 ambulances and 130 first responders that had been staged in Garner since last week to various areas to assist in hurricane response efforts. Another 30 ambulances and 60 first responders are still in Garner and will be dispatched as needed, officials said. The responders are in North Carolina from about 30 other states. 4 p.m.: Franklin County officials report 2 feet of water flowing over a bridge on Green Hill Road near the Franklin-Granville county line. Flooding also was reported near the Franklin-Vance county line, and the Tar River, which is 5 to 6 feet below flood stage at Louisburg, continues to rise. Officials said they expect the river to crest Wednesday even at about 19 feet, just below minor flood stage. 2:45 p.m.: Chatham County authorities say places along the Deep River, including Indian Creek Estates, Carbonton and Gulf, are flooding. Several areas are isolated by water blocking roads, and some structures are flooded. "We are still determining the source of the floodwaters. This water may be from the Deep River itself, from heavy rain runoff without a good way to drain or a combination of sources," said Steve Newton, county director of Emergency Management. The state Department of Transportation has set up a detour for southbound U.S. Highway 15/501 at the Deep River. Vehicles will be routed to Mountain View Church Road, Moncure-Pittsboro Road and U.S. Highway 1. 1:30 p.m.: The state ports at Wilmington and Morehead City will open on Wednesday to help get relief supplies to coastal areas, Transportation Secretary Jim Trogdon said. The state has requested MV Cape Ray, a 648-foot container ship now in Florida, be brought to Morehead City, to handle fuel and other resupply vehicles and help with the relief effort, he said. The state ferry between Fort Fisher and Southport also will be used to help get relief supplies to affected areas. 12:41 p.m.: President Donald Trump is expected to visit North Carolina Wednesday to tour areas damaged by Hurricane Florence, NBC News confirms. Air Force One is expected to land at the Marine Corps Air Station at Cherry Point at about 10:30 a.m., but no details as to what areas he will tour have been released. 12:30 p.m.: Brock Long. administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, urged as many people as possible to register for hurricane relief assistance online or through FEMA's smartphone app, saying that would help expedite the claims process. 12:15 p.m.: Nurses are needed to help with the hurricane recovery effort, Secretary of Health and Human Services Dr. Mandy Cohen said. Individual nurses who can volunteer time should register with the Red Cross (redcross.org/enc), and teams of nurses can register with the North Carolina Training Exercise Response Management System (terms.ncem.org/trs). 12 p.m.: Sixteen rivers statewide are at major flood stage, and three more will reach that stage on Wednesday or Thursday, Gov. Roy Cooper said. "Sunshine doesn't necessarily mean safety," Cooper said during a news conference, noting more than 1,100 roads across the state remain closed. Cooper also noted that the number of Florence-related deaths in North Carolina is now at 26. No details on the latest death were released. About 344,000 people are still without power. 11:53 a.m.: Fayetteville police have lifted the curfew for the city, the department tweeted. Residents were still urged to drive with caution because local rivers are expected to crest sometime Wednesday morning, authorities said. 11 a.m.: Brian Shrader and Sky 5 are flying over neighborhoods in Harnett and Cumberland counties, where floodwaters from the Little River have consumed homes. In a neighborhood near the Harnett and Cumberland County line, Sky 5 spotted a two-story home that was covered with water more than halfway up its front. 9:30 a.m.: The Division of Employment Security announced Tuesday that Bladen, Columbus, Cumberland, Duplin, Harnett, Lenoir, Jones, Robeson, Sampson and Wayne counties have been approved for disaster unemployment assistance due to the effects of Hurricane Florence. Business owners affected by the storm may also qualify for benefits. Also on Tuesday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved an emergency fuel waiver request for North Carolina on behalf of Gov. Cooper. The EPA and the Department of Energy are monitoring the fuel supply situation and will act if needed. 8:45 a.m.: Rescue groups across the state and out-of-state are working to save animals left behind in Hurricane Florence. According to Guardians of Rescue, a rescue based in New York, their volunteers have traveled to Wilmington and surrounding areas to help rescue animals from floodwaters. "We’ve helped rescue animals in many hurricanes, but this one has to be one of the worst hurricanes to get access to the animals in need,” explains Robert Misseri, president of Guardians of Rescue, an animal rescue organization. “So many animals were left behind. We are getting calls about dogs left in kennels in backyards that are completely flooded, cats on rooftops, and horses in flooded fields, etc.” 8:30 a.m.: The Fayetteville Police Department has shared on social media three startling images of the Cape Fear River from Sunday to Tuesday People living near the river were urged to evacuate last week. The river was expected to crest Tuesday, but a press release from city officials reflects a change in that timeline. The Cape Fear River is now projected to crest at 61.5 feet around 2 a.m. Wednesday. As of 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, the Cape Fear River was at 59 feet, which is above Hurricane Matthew levels. People who live within the 1-mile evacuation area of the river are urged to evacuate. "Even though the heavy rains have ended, the flood hazard to life and property is real," the press release read. "Do not become complacent."<doc-sep>(CNN) — When a hurricane hits, people often focus too much on its category – which only measures wind – and not on the massive amounts of rain that accompany a storm. For days, federal and state emergency managers cautioned that Hurricane Florence’s danger was primarily about rainfall and catastrophic flooding, as rivers overflowed throughout the Carolinas and into Virginia. Especially now that pockets of sunshine have broken out, and the rain is gone, it’s easy to think the worst is over. But take a look: the map below shows gauges monitored by the National Weather Service that measure where rivers were flooding on Saturday, a day after Florence made landfall in North Carolina. That might not look too bad, all things considered, right? But take a look at how many more flooding events were recorded by Sunday night. And finally, here is what things looked like along the rivers as of Tuesday afternoon. Four days after Florence made landfall, 45 gauges now measure flooding along rivers throughout the region. And there could be more challenges ahead – the Cape Fear River in North Carolina may not crest until later Tuesday or even Wednesday, where it could reach an estimated 61.5 feet near Fayetteville. In South Carolina, Gov. Henry McMaster warned residents that the waters hadn’t crested there either in many areas. He said with the wind and rain gone, the state’s emergency resources are being marshaled to combat river flooding. Joe Raedle/Getty Images People look out at the Cape Fear river on Tuesday near Fayetteville, North Carolina. “We’ve had two threats. One is the hurricane with the wind and the water and the surge, and that part is over,” McMaster said. “But the second part, which has been predicted with great certainty, is the flooding, and we know it’s coming.” CNN’s Amanda Watts contributed to this report.<doc-sep>Flooding from rain-swollen rivers was expected to worsen across the Carolinas on Thursday and the next couple of days in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence, which killed 36 people in three states, forecasters said. Twenty flood gauges showed some level of flooding in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, where some major waterways, well above their flood stages, were expected to rise through the weekend before they crest, the National Weather Service said. "People in flood prone areas or near waterways need to remain alert as rivers crest and stay above their banks in coming days," North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said in a written statement. "Stay alert and stay safe." Touring the area on Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump warned South Carolina that "water is coming your way." "Now it looks nice but it's really the calm before the storm," he said. Florence dumped up to 36 inches (91 cm) of rain on parts of North Carolina and many areas remained cut off by floodwaters and inundated roads. The slow-moving storm made landfall on Friday as a Category 1 hurricane. In Lenoir County, North Carolina, where the rising Neuse River has flooded some roads, emergency medical workers have been running a "mobile disaster hospital" to provide urgent care to residents cut off from the nearest hospital. Tripp Winslow, medical director of North Carolina Emergency Medical Services, helped set up the mobile emergency room during a downpour on Saturday night. They have received 20 to 30 patients a day so far, he said, but expect to be busier as the river crests. "Once we get isolated we expect to see more," he said. "No pun intended, it's a fluid situation." Winslow said some patients have hurricane-related problems after going days without power or drinkable water.<doc-sep>
Tropical Depression Florence battered the coast of the Carolinas over the weekend, and while the rains and winds are expected to start petering out, rising water and flash floods still pose a major threat to residents. By Monday, five areas of North Carolina had broken tropical cyclone rain records, according to The Weather Channel. Swansboro, Hofmann Forest, Sunny Point, Nature Conservancy and Newport/Morehead City all surpassed the previous record of 24.06 inches, which was sustained during Hurricane Floyd in 1999. North Carolina rivers also toppled the flooding record, with Little River in Manchester, North Carolina, reaching 32.19 feet. The National Weather Service (NWS) in Raleigh, North Carolina, issued a new set of river flood warnings at 6:30 a.m. EDT on Monday for Neuse River, Cape Fear River, Haw River, Deep River, Little River and Rocky River. Major flooding was expected for Neuse River at Goldsboro, Little River at Manchester and Rocky River at Norwood. Warnings of moderate flooding were issued for Neuse River at Smithfield and Cape Fear River at Fayetteville. Other river flood warnings were issued for Cape Fear River at Lillington and Haw River at Bynum, plus Haw River and Deep River at Moncure. Moderate flooding means that road closures will increase and water may begin to enter houses and businesses. At the flooding stage identified as major, roads closures will spread, and a foot or more of water could enter structures. Evacuations were ordered for areas near McLaughlin Lake after Kaco Dam was declared to be in imminent failure. On Saturday, officials said they expected the dam banks to overflow and encouraged residents to evacuate to a nearby shelter, according to WNCN. On Monday, the NWS in Raleigh issued a flash flood warning for areas of Southwestern Granville County, Northwestern Wake County and Durham County in central North Carolina, including: Raleigh Durham Cary Creedmore Butner RDU International Rougemont Morrisville Stem Lake Michie Up to three inches of rain had already fallen in the area by 8:00 a.m. EDT on Monday, and the NWS reported that flash flooding was already occurring. Other areas under flash flood warnings were New Hanover County, Pender County, Robeson County, Bladen County, Brunswick County, Columbus County, Southeastern Florence County, Northeastern Georgetown County, Dillon County, Horry County, Marion County and East Central Williamsburg County. Wilmington, North Carolina, surpassed its annual rainfall record, and flooding made it impossible to get in or out of the city. At least 450 people were rescued from the dangerous floodwaters in the Wilmington area, according to The Washington Post. "Every single road coming into the city or New Hanover County is impassable. The river has not crested and will not until possibly Tuesday," Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo told the newspaper. Areas of I-95 were shut down due to flooding, and I-40 is largely impassable in some areas, according to ABC News, and soldiers from Fort Bragg and the Coast Guard were dispatched to help with evacuations. Eleven people have already been killed during the storm in North Carolina. Zach Taylor, a meteorologist with the NWS, told Reuters that the worst could be yet to come. "The soil is soaked and can't absorb any more rain so that water has to go somewhere, unfortunately," he explained. Although Florence has weakened to a tropical depression, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) expects it to re-intensify on Tuesday and Wednesday. Governor Roy Cooper urged residents to not become complacent because of the storm's status and said during a Sunday news conference that the storm has "never been more dangerous than it is right now." Florence continues to move north-northeast at about 13 miles per hour, according to the NHC, and in the coming days is expected to bring heavy rainfall as far north as New York and New England.