Tropical bands from Florence begin lashing Carolinas

It comes amid otherwise serious warnings for residents in North and SC as Hurricane Florence, which was downgraded to a tropical storm on Friday, continues to put properties and lives at risk.

And cameras aboard the International Space Station managed to catch incredible footage just a few minutes after the storm's landfall.

There's no doubt that Hurricane Florence is causing some real problems in America right now as it rips through North and SC and Virginia, but a clip has gone viral that appears to show a weather reporter hamming it up a bit.

In the coming days, Florence's path and pace may cause it to send storm bands back over areas already hammered by heavy rain - what's known as training - dumping even more water and making conditions even more hazardous for both residents and rescuers.

Forecasters said Florence's surge could cover all but a sliver of the Carolina coast under as much as 11 feet (3.4 meters) of ocean water, and days of downpours could unload more than 3 feet (0.9 meters) of rain, touching off severe flooding. City spokeswoman Colleen Roberts tells WRAL-TV that 200 people have already been rescued.

Over 645,000 power outages were reported Friday morning. The flooding began on barrier islands in North Carolina and then spread into coastal and river communities there and in SC, swamping the white sands and golf courses in North Myrtle Beach.

"The water kept rising and kept rising", he said.

At the Comfort Suites in Wilmington, hotel staff hiding out with news crews and storm refugees were left in the dark when the power went out. Up to eleven-foot storm surges are expected, enough to overwhelm most of the homes here.

As Florence pounded away, it unloaded heavy rain, flattened trees, chewed up roads and knocked out power to more than a half-million homes and businesses. Hurricane-force winds extended 90 miles (150 kilometers) from its center, and tropical-storm-force winds up to 195 miles (315 kilometers).

"We would recommend that people hold on to nonperishable items to be prepared for the next emergency, which could happen at any time of year", said James City County spokeswoman Renee Dallman.

Major river flooding expected to continue into early next week.

Hurricane Florence dropped record-setting rain and was blamed for five deaths in North Carolina.

One resident, 67-year-old Linda Smith, told the MailOnline: "We're a little anxious about the storm surge so we came down to see what the river is doing now".

In Kinston, a city southeast of Raleigh, two people died in the storm.

New Bern resident Dan Eudy said he and his brother were awakened on Thursday night by the sound of a boat ramming against his front porch. Over 1 million people are under evacuation warnings, with 10 million more under storm watches and warnings, CBS News reports.

"New Bern is just not used to this level of a hurricane", Outlaw said. Local media said she had suffered a heart attack.

Storm surges of up to six feet were forecast for Belhaven, North Carolina, where this video was recorded on the night of September 13. State Sen. Danny Britt, R, put out a call on Facebook for volunteers to fill the sandbags and, with the help of 40 members of the National Guard, dam a railway channel that has been problematic during floods.

President Donald Trump praised the "incredible job" being done by the Federal Emergency Management Agency workers and first-responders.

By early afternoon, Florence's winds had weakened to 75 miles per hour, just barely a hurricane and well below the storm's terrifying Category 4 peak of 140 miles per hour earlier in the week. "We have two boats and all our worldly possessions", said Susan Patchkofsky, who refused her familys pleas to evacuate and stayed at Emerald Isle with her husband.