Florence flooding spreads as storm heads northeast

WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — With Wilmington cut off from the rest of North Carolina by still-rising floodwaters from Florence, officials plan to airlift food and water to the city of nearly 120,000 people as rescuers elsewhere pull inland residents from homes swamped by swollen rivers.

The deadly storm was still dumping rain and had top winds around 30 miles per hour early Monday, but forecasters said it was expected to gradually pick up forward speed and complete a big turn toward the Northeast.

Flooding worries were increasing in West Virginia and Virginia, where power outages also were on the rise.

About 500,000 homes and businesses were in the dark.

The spreading disaster claimed additional lives Sunday, with at least 17 people confirmed dead, and the nation’s top emergency official said other states were in the path this week.

“Not only are you going to see more impact across North Carolina ... but we’re also anticipating you are about to see a lot of damage going through West Virginia, all the way up to Ohio as the system exits out,” Brock Long of the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Sunday on Fox News.

Authorities near Charlotte were searching for a 1-year-old boy who was swept away by floodwaters when the boy’s mother lost her grip on him after her vehicle was swept off a road.

Florence was still massive, despite being downgraded to a tropical depression from a once-fearsome Category 4 hurricane.

Radar showed parts of the sprawling storm over six states, with North and South Carolina in the bulls-eye.

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