Hurricane Florence causes at least five deaths as storm lashes down on US
At least five people have died so far as Hurricane Florence bears down on the US, carrying with it warnings of "life-threatening" and "catastrophic" flash flooding.
The hurricane, which has been downgraded from a category four storm to category one, hit North Carolina on the south east coast and is now heading towards South Carolina and Virginia.
Winds have reached highs of 65mph (105km/h).Evacuation warnings have been issued for around 1.7 million people in the affected regions.
The US National Weather Service said yesterday that the flash flooding and storm surge was “life-threatening” and predicted it would last for days.
The storm reached Wrightsville Beach in North Carolina yesterday with recorded wind speeds of 90mph.
Winds then increased towards 100mph and US weather forecasters warned the state would see eight months of rain in the next two to three days.
Around 800,000 homes are thought to be without power in North Carolina, where the hurricane has destroyed buildings, blocked roads with fallen trees and brought in extreme flooding.
The hurricane is expected to more further inland over the next couple of days, reaching Ohio Valley by Monday and Canada later the week.
Read more: Hurricane Florence weakens but insurers braced for billion dollar losses