Hurricane Florence Friday claimed its first fatalities, including a mother and her baby, as the monster storm walloped the US East Coast and parked over the Carolinas, threatening days of torrential rain and severe flooding.
As rescuers battled strong winds and debris-filled floodwaters to pluck hundreds of stranded people from their homes, officials confirmed at least three deaths from the monster storm, while US media reported a fourth.
Police in Wilmington, North Carolina, near where the hurricane made landfall, said a mother and her infant were killed when a tree fell on their house. The father was taken to hospital with unspecified injuries.
Another person died in a storm-related death in Pender County, North Carolina, according to a spokesperson, when downed trees prevented emergency units from reaching a woman with a medical condition who called for help. Local media said she had suffered a heart attack.
A fourth person reportedly was killed while plugging in a generator in the state's Lenoir County, according to US media.
"This storm is going to continue its violent grind across our state for days," North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said.
"The storm is wreaking havoc on our state." Donald Trump was to visit hurricane-hit zones "early to the middle of next week," the White House said, "once it is determined his travel will not disrupt any rescue or recovery efforts."
As of 1800 GMT, maximum sustained winds had weakened to 120 kmph but the National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned Carolina residents to be alert for life-threatening storm surges and "catastrophic freshwater flooding."
Governor Cooper said there have been "several hundred" rescue operations and "there are still some people they need to get to."