Some residents of the riverfront city of New Bern, North Carolina, who didn’t evacuate ahead of Hurricane Florence were awaiting rescue early Friday, trapped at their homes by the storm’s wind and heavy rains.
About 150 people were waiting to be rescued, the city tweeted. Watercraft manned by two out-of-state Federal Emergency Management Agency teams, the city fire department, and the volunteer Cajun Navy were assisting in moving stranded people to safety.
CrowdSource Rescue, a Twitter account devoted to making sure people reach safety, coordinated with civilian responders and tweeted updates for those who were trapped. The group’s website allows people to file a ticket detailing their location and the help they need.
Those trapped by the storm also used Twitter to send out their locations to rescuers.
“We’ve planned for this,” New Bern Mayor Dana Outlaw said. “We knew it was coming, and we’re working very hard to keep our citizens safe. We were able to evacuate quite a few; some did not go.”
Resident Peggy Perry, who awaited rescue, told CNN that her house flooded up to her waist “in a matter of seconds.”
“And we’re stuck in the attic. There’s four of us,” she said. “We’ve been up here for like three or four hours. There’s a little window here that we might have to break up (to get out).”
Hundreds of thousands were without power as of early Friday as the slow-moving storm began lashing the coastal area. As much as three feet of rain and “catastrophic” flooding were expected.
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