Anyone who lives or is within one mile of the Cape Fear River or the Little River in Cumberland County should evacuate the area immediately because of possible life-threatening flooding, according to county officials.
Cumberland County, the City of Fayetteville and the Town of Wade have issued the order due to the dangers posed by the rising flood waters.
The Little River stretches from the Cumberland-Harnett County line to Highway 87 in Spring Lake, Highway 401 in Linden, Highway 217 and Luke Road, according to the county. Those in the area are being asked by officials to leave immediately.
Flooding is spreading out from the rivers at a rapid and dangerous pace. Cumberland County said the storm doesn't really seem to be as intense as the early heavy rains were, that's not the case; the rains will get intense.
County officials said that mandatory evacuations should begin as soon as humanly possible. All people who don't heed this warning do so at their own risk. All emergency and rescue personnel and first responders may not be sent out into flooded areas.
People have until 3 p.m. on Sunday to get out before emergency services might be suspended.
Tropical Storm Florence was downgraded from a Category 1 hurricane late Friday night but has slowed to an almost standstill over the Carolinas, dropping feet of rain in some areas. This has caused many places to flood, including areas around Wilmington and several coastal towns in North Carolina.
Five people have died in North Carolina as a result of the storm and a woman died in South Carolina late Friday night after crashing her car into a tree knocked down by the storm in Upstate S.C.
Florence is moving at just 3 mph to the west and sits about 40 miles south of Florence, S.C., and 50 miles west of Myrtle Beach, S.C. Catastrophic flooding is expected to continue for at least 24 hours in large portions of both Carolina states. Tropical-storm-force winds extend out about 150 miles from the storm's eyewall, but the rain is the real worry when it comes to Florence.
