Floodwaters left hundreds of people stranded in their homes and on rooftops in North Carolina early on Monday, and officials warned life-threatening flooding from swollen rivers would continue for days after Hurricane Matthew ravaged the southeastern United States.
Matthew, the most powerful Atlantic storm since 2007, was downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone on Sunday after its rampage through the Caribbean killed 1,000 people in Haiti. In the United States, the death toll rose to at least 21 people with nearly half of the fatalities reported in North Carolina.
After receiving more than a foot (30 cm) of rain from Matthew during the weekend, skies were clear over North Carolina on Monday but the storm's after-effects were creating major problems by overwhelming rivers and breaching levees.
"Hurricane Matthew is off the map, well into the ocean, but it still is right here in North Carolina," Governor Pat McCrory said at a new conference on Monday. "This is an extremely dangerous situation."
Ten people have died in the state, including a person killed after a car was driven into floodwaters and swept away in Johnston County on Sunday, McCrory said. With rivers rising, the governor said he expected the number of dead to increase.
Some 1,500 residents were stuck in their homes and on rooftops in Lumberton after an unexpected river levee breach Monday morning, McCrory said. Air and water rescues were underway in the city, where hundreds of people evacuated their homes overnight hours before the breach and floodwaters continued to rise quickly, he said.
McCrory said several other swollen rivers in the central and eastern parts of the state were expected to hit record levels and would crest throughout the week. Residents in several cities were urged to evacuate.
The National Weather Service said "life-threatening flooding" would continue on Monday over eastern portions of the state.
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