Gov. Roy Cooper and other state officials on Friday continued to warn people to be cautious on roads and not to travel to coastal areas affected by Tropical Storm Florence. Flooding is expected to continue through next week, officials said, and in some places longer. “The opening and closing of roads are changing as the flooding continues,” Cooper said at his press briefing at the emergency operations center in west Raleigh. “I can’t stress enough,…

By Adam Owens, WRAL reporter The Cumberland county town of Spring Lake has lifted its curfew but town officials are still warning residents to be cautious as damage from Florence is widespread. Early Friday, there was a line outside the Spring Lake Fire Department as town officials handed out the basics to those suffering after the storm. Some of the items included food, baby supplies and cleaning supplies. The need highlights how much people lost…

An outbreak of tornadoes across Virginia on Monday damaged buildings, uprooted trees and killed at least one person, WTVR reported. At least six of the destructive twisters touched down in the state, the Washington Post reported, likely caused by the remnants of Hurricane Florence as it passed through the area early in the week. The chaotic weather toppled a tree near the University of Richmond’s campus on Monday, posing a hazard. But when a university…

Florence could be the most destructive storm in recent history to hit North Carolina’s roads and bridges, according to the state’s transportation chief. So far, at least 300 N.C. road and bridge sites need long-term repair, state Transportation Secretary James Trogdon told the Observer Friday. And officials may find much more damage when the flood waters recede. “That number could easily double in the next week,” Trogdon said. “It’s a large number with the potential…

When Hugh Weathers, South Carolina’s agriculture commissioner, landed in the Pee Dee in a National Guard helicopter on Tuesday, what he saw was shocking. Fields loaded with mature peanuts were inundated with water, ruining the crop. Soybean fields were wrecked. And acres of once-plump cotton bolls had been shredded by hurricane force winds. “The lint was literally hanging by a threat or was blown to the ground,” he said. “And that (cotton) field was typical….

Hurricanes, like people, take on unique personalities as they spin to life. But Hurricane Florence was in a class of its own — so unusual that it defies comparisons to a single past Carolina storm, said a climatologist with the North Carolina Climate Office. “Florence is going to be remembered as very unique — almost like a Frankenstorm,” applied climatologist Corey Davis said in an interview. “It resembles some aspects of other storms, but over…

A woman witnessed her sister being rescued from her Hurricane Florence-flooded home in Pender County, and she did so from her Greensboro home, according to television station WGHP. Sandy Gil had the WGHP news on in the background Monday when she overheard mention of an elderly woman being rescued in Pender County, the report said. When she looked up, she saw a video clip of her sister Cindy being rescued by the Coast Guard, according…

By Travis Fain, WRAL statehouse reporter Raleigh, N.C. — In the wake of Hurricane Florence, there are a hundred ways to help. As with so many things these days, many of them grow online. A search for “Hurricane Florence” on GoFundMe, an online donation platform that just about anyone can use to ask for money, turned up 2,700 results Friday. People posted pictures of their flooded homes, or of homes belonging to friends or family….

By GARY D. ROBERTSON and EMERY P. DALESIO, Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. — Hurricane Florence is testing the resolve of farmers in the Carolinas, who could face billions of dollars in agricultural damage while still feeling the sting from Hurricane Matthew almost two years ago. After last weekend’s high winds and rain that was measured in feet, followed by this week’s rising rivers and standing water in fields, early farm reports are confirming pre-storm worries…