Five Dead As Florence Lashes Carolinas With Howling Winds And Driving Rain theguardian.com

Officials said five people died on Friday as Hurricane Florence continued to pummel the Carolinas with gusting winds and extremely heavy rain.

A mother and her young child were killed when a tree fell on their house in Wilmington, North Carolina; a woman died in Pender county, north of Wilmington; and two elderly men died in Lenoir county.

Florence was downgraded to a tropical storm on Friday evening, but still had sustained winds of 70mph. Officials warned that up to 50in of rain could cause catastrophic flooding into next week, with warnings that landslides could occur across western North Carolina.