Hundreds of terrified North Carolina residents are trapped, some in their attics, as floodwaters from Hurricane Dorian rise and the Category 1 storm heads north for Nova Scotia

Saturday, September 7, 2019
By Paul Martin

Hurricane Dorian’s fury felt by people in North Carolina after floodwaters forced many to climb into their attics and hundreds were feared to be trapped by the high water
Neighbors rescued one another from homes in Ocracoke Island, as medics and other rescuers raced to try to help those who made the mistake of defying evacuation orders
Dorian sparked more than 20 tornadoes and powerful winds, and caused a life-threatening storm surge
At least four people have died in the US after the hurricane struck both North and South Carolina
More than 228,000 homes and businesses were without power in South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia
Dorian is now off the coast of North Carolina and heading towards Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts

JOSH SAUNDERS
DAILYMAIL.COM
7 September 2019

A weakened Hurricane Dorian flooded homes on North Carolina’s Outer Banks on Friday with a fury that took even storm-hardened residents by surprise, forcing people to climb into their attics. Hundreds were feared trapped by high water, and neighbors used boats to rescue one another.

Medics and other rescuers rushed to Ocracoke Island – accessible only by boat or air – to reach those who made the mistake of defying mandatory evacuation orders along the 200-mile ribbon of low-lying islands.

‘We are flooding like crazy,’ Ocracoke Island bookshop owner Leslie Lanier texted. ‘I have been here 32 years and not seen this.’

Its winds down to 90mph, Dorian howled over the Outer Banks as a far weaker storm than the brute that wreaked havoc on the Bahamas at the start of the week. Just when it looked as if its run up the Southeast coast was coming to a relatively quiet end, the Category 1 hurricane sent seawater surging over neighborhoods, flooding the first floors of many homes, even ones on stilts.

‘There is significant concern about hundreds of people trapped on Ocracoke Island,’ Governor Roy Cooper said.

Over and over, longtime residents said that they had never seen flooding so bad, and that places in their homes that had never flooded before were inundated.

‘We were all on social media laughing about how we’d done well and there was really no flooding at all, just rain, typical rain,’ Steve Harris, who has lived on Ocracoke Island for most of the last 19 years. And then, ‘the wall of water just came rushing through the island.’

‘It just started looking like a bathtub, very quickly,’ said Harris, who was safe in his third-floor condo. ‘We went from almost no water to 4 to 6 feet in a matter of minutes.’

The Coast Guard began landing local law enforcement officers on the island via helicopter and airlifting out the sick, the elderly or others in distress, Hyde County authorities said. National Guard helicopters also flew supplies and a rescue team in. Residents were told to get to the highest point in their homes in the meantime.

‘Several people were rescued from their upper floors or attics by boat by good Samaritans,’ Ocracoke Island restaurant owner Jason Wells said in a text message.

The Rest…HERE

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