WILMINGTON/FAYETTEVILLE, North Carolina--Residents of the Carolinas struggled to return to normalcy on Tuesday after taking a beating from Hurricane Florence, but their efforts were hindered by standing water and additional flooding expected from already swollen rivers.
Florence has killed at least 33 people since coming ashore as a hurricane on Friday, including 26 in North Carolina and six in South Carolina. One person was killed when Florence spawned at least 16 tornadoes on Monday in Virginia, the National Weather Service said.
The White House said President Donald Trump would visit North Carolina on Wednesday. He has been criticized for his handling of Hurricane Maria, which devastate Puerto Rico last year, and more recently for disputing the official death toll of 3,000.
Waterways were expected to keep rising on Tuesday in places like Fayetteville, North Carolina, a city of 200,000 in the southern part of the state, according to the weather service, hampering efforts to restore power, clear roads and allow residents to homes.
More than 1,100 roads were still closed across North Carolina, Governor Roy Cooper said on Tuesday, including several portions of Interstates 40 and 95. Sixteen rivers in the state have reached major flood stages, with three more expected to peak in the next two days, he said.
"Road conditions are starting to improve in some parts of our state but rising creeks, streams and rivers continue to make travel unsafe," Cooper said in a news conference.
Brock Long, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, appeared with Cooper and said his agency would help restore power and open roads. "I think the next 48 hours are going to be incredibly critical," he said.
Officials said residents should not attempt to return to the counties along the state's coast around Wilmington yet due to continued risk of flooding.
A portion of the roof collapsed at the Starlight Motel near the U.S. military base at Fort Bragg but there were no immediate reports of casualties. The storm dumped more than 8 trillion gallons (30 trillion liters) of rain on North Carolina, the weather service said. On Tuesday, the storm's remnants were continuing to soak the mid-Atlantic region and southern New England with heavy rain.
Property damage from the storm is expected to come to $17 billion to $22 billion, the risk management firm Moody's Analytics said. Further flooding could push up that figure. The risk modeling agency Air Worldwide on Tuesday said insured losses from Florence's winds and storm surge will range from $1.7 billion to $4.6 billion. Those figures do not include losses from continuing flooding.
Fire and rescue crews were waiting to go into many areas to assist with structural damage after Florence dumped up to 36 inches (91 cm) of rain on the state since Thursday. "Road conditions are still changing," the North Carolina Department of Transportation wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. "What’s open now may become impassable."
