WILMINGTON, N.C. — Emergency workers rushed into beleaguered cities in the Carolinas on Monday as residents struggled with the aftermath of a storm that damaged tens of thousands of homes and triggered floodwaters that are not expected to recede for days. Wilmington, a city of about 119,000 residents, was virtually cutoff. Water levels were rising in some places on Monday as the record-breaking rains of the storm — which made landfall as a hurricane and then drenched the region even as it weakened — pushed rivers over their banks. The authorities and volunteers in North and South Carolina carried out additional rescues by air and water, curfews were in effect, and many thousands of people remained out of their homes. The zipping winds and pounding rains were largely replaced on Monday by a different soundtrack: roaring helicopters that delivered supplies to Wilmington; leaf blowers and chain saws for cleanups in Charlotte; and the soft swirl of the still-rising Cape Fear River as it flowed under the Person Street Bridge and menaced Fayetteville.

Source: New York Times September 17, 2018 12:10 UTC