Five dead as Hurricane Florence lashes Carolina

Officials said five people had died on Friday as Hurricane Florence continued to pummel the Carolinas with gusting winds and extremely heavy rain.

A mother and her young child were killed when a tree fell on their house in Wilmington, North Carolina; a woman died in Pender county, north of Wilmington; and two elderly men died in Lenoir county.

Florence was downgraded to a tropical storm on Friday evening, but still had sustained winds of 70mph. Officials warned that up to 50in of rain could cause catastrophic flooding into next week.

The center of the storm crossed into South Carolina on Friday, heading for the coastal city of Myrtle Beach after leaving nearly 800,000 homes and businesses without power in North Carolina.

The first confirmed deaths came on Friday morning, when a mother and her child were killed in Wilmington. The child’s father was also injured and was taken to hospital.

The Guardian 

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