The first units were expected to come online early next week in New Bern and Washington, North Carolina, according to Jack Frazier, the Baptist Men's disaster relief co-ordinator.

When Florence started battering eastern North Carolina with record rainfall, the Neuse and Trent rivers began to swell - and combined with high tide, made for unsafe flooding.

Federal and local officials have warned for days for residents in the storm's path in the Carolinas to make preparations for the hurricane and heed evacuation orders.

It's a photo that makes you sick to your stomach after you realize this is the City of New Bern's sign nearly completely under flood waters.

Zooming out to the full projection, shown above, the core of the storm is slated to enter North Carolina around 2 p.m. ET on Sunday.

High winds and storm surge from Hurricane Florence hits Swansboro N.C., on September 14, 2018.

This storm is relentless and excruciating. And even if their homes survived intact, hundreds of thousands of utility customers who lack power have limited food options. More ppl now face a threat than when the storm was offshore.

"You can walk faster than this storm is moving", said Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo. Over a million residents in North Carolina are now without power and authorities have confirmed at least five deaths.

Tropical Storm Florence was about 25 miles (45 km) northeast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, with maximum sustained winds of 70 miles per hour (110 km/h), the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

In an update published at 5:33 a.m. ET on Saturday, the agency said that the storm is now striking SC and has a path through the in-land charted for the next few days. He said five deaths were confirmed from the storm and "several others are under investigation". Forecasters said this onslaught could last for days, leaving a wide area under water from both heavy downpours and rising seas.

"Please be safe and be smart and use your common sense", Cooper added. When Florence started battering eastern North Carolina, the Neuse and Trent rivers began to swell.

Flash flood are expected to his the south-east coast as the storm moves across land.

So far, at least three people have died because of the storm, including a mother and infant who were in a Mercer Avenue house when it was struck by a felled tree. The child's injured father was hospitalized.

In Pender County, a woman died from a heart attack after paramedics were not able to get to her.

As Florence drew near, President Donald Trump tweeted that FEMA and first responders are "supplied and ready", and he disputed the official conclusion that almost 3,000 people died in Puerto Rico, claiming the figure was a Democratic plot to make him look bad.

In Lenoir County a 78-year-old man was electrocuted while trying to connect extension cords and another man died after being blown away by high winds while checking on his dogs.

The storm made landfall on Friday near Wilmington, a city of about 120,000 squeezed between North Carolina's Atlantic coastline and the Cape Fear River. New Bern spokeswoman Colleen Roberts said 455 people had been rescued in the town of 30,000 residents without any serious injuries or deaths.

In the dark: About 900,000 outages as of Saturday morning, mostly in North Carolina.

Eudy said his family stayed in their home partly to protect their house.

Some local residents described a harrowing retreat as the storm hit early on Friday.

United States correspondent Cordelia Lynch, who is in New Bern, said: "This community in the weeks and months to come is up against a great deal of flooding".

As of Saturday, about 676,000 homes and businesses were without power in North Carolina, along with 119,000 in SC. "Dangerous storm surge could also affect portions of the northeast coast of SC coast today".

Christy Hall, South Carolina's state secretary of transportation, on Saturday announced plans to build two emergency dams as rainfall is expected to flood routes leading into Horry County, where Myrtle Beach is located.

President Trump's disaster declaration for eight North Carolina counties frees up federal funding including grants for property repairs and low-priced loans to cover uninsured losses.