Florence: Rescuers rush to save people and pets from rising North Carolina flood waters
JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — Floodwater is rising in Jacksonville, North Carolina from Florence and rescue teams are racing to help people and their pets.
Local residents waded through up to four feet of water to make sure no one was trapped in one house. CBS News' Adriana Diaz went along and filmed them as they checked to make sure no one was stuck.
One rescuer said there were cars in front with windows taped shut. No one answered the door. But earlier, Matthew Drake and Sean Boggs went deeper in the water by boat and found dogs left behind. They also found a cat they were trying to get to as well.
It was a punishing night of high wind and rain with hurricane force gusts that ripped off roofs, toppled trees and drowned power lines. A towering oak tree missed a house by a few feet.
"It just went down so easy, I mean, wow someone is helping us out," said Bella Tyron.
On Thursday night, across town, dozens of people were evacuated at the Triangle Motor Inn where Jermaine Lewis was staying with his two kids.
"I was in there. I had my kids asleep. Lots of winds and rain, spinning, blue lighting, green lightning," he said. "By the time I got to the bottom floor, they told me the roof came right off the top of your room."
Most of his city doesn't have power. City officials said it could take about two weeks to get the lights back on, and about four to five days for flooding to recede. They think the worst is over but have a curfew in place until noon Saturday.