Emergency management officials on Wednesday scaled back their flooding forecasts for coastal South Carolina but urged residents not to be complacent as the rivers swollen by Hurricane Florence wreak havoc on the state.
Thousands of people in and around the city of Georgetown, South Carolina, were urged to evacuate on Monday as two rivers gorged with rain from long-departed Hurricane Florence will flood the area this week.
Only about 1 percent of homes in North Carolina's inland counties are insured through the national flood insurance program, according to federal data, compared with 25 percent to 50 percent of homeowners on the coast.
Category 1 hurricane Florence gained strength on Sunday in the central Atlantic and is expected to turn into a major storm by Monday night as it churns over the open ocean and heads toward the U.S. East Coast, the U.S. hurricane agency said.
