Florence: Severe flooding feared near South Carolina coast
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}This Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018, photo provided by the North Carolina Department of Transportation shows fish left on Interstate 40 in Pender County in eastern North Carolina after floodwaters receded. Thousands of coastal residents remained on edge Sunday, told they may need to leave their homes because rivers are still rising more than a week after Hurricane Florence slammed into the Carolinas. (Jeff Garrett/N.C. Department of Transportation via AP)
Rivers swelling with the floodwaters of former Hurricane Florence are threatening to swamp communities near the South Carolina coast, leaving thousands ready to evacuate.
More than a week after Florence crashed into the Carolinas, all the water from heavy rains is nearing the coast. Authorities in Georgetown County, South Carolina, say they've put up to 8,000 people on alert for possible evacuations starting Monday in expectation of a "record event" of up to 10 feet (3 meters) floodwaters.
Officials are especially eyeing gauges along the Pee Dee and Waccamaw Rivers and said people should be ready to leave homes in the potential flood zones before potentially life-threatening flooding begins setting in as early as Tuesday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Florence struck the Carolinas Sept. 14, dumping heavy rains and claiming at least 43 lives on its slow passage north.