‘CATASTROPHIC’

Florence Death Toll Rises to 41 as Floodwaters Plague Carolinas

An 81-year-old man was found dead, making him the ninth weather-related fatality in South Carolina.

An 81-year-old South Carolina man was found in his submerged vehicle Wednesday, marking the ninth weather-related death in the state. The South Carolina Department of Corrections tweeted that the man’s vehicle “appeared to have been swept away by water on the roadway” just off Carolina Church Road in Dillon County. NPR reports that the death toll from Florence has risen to 41 people, with 31 people dead in North Carolina alone. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said “major flooding is still occurring” across rivers, which is also affecting South Carolina. “The rainfall and flooding in North Carolina is sending unheard of amounts of water into South Carolina along the Lynches, Great Pee Dee, Little Pee Dee and Waccamaw rivers,” South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster wrote in a damage assessment Thursday. “The damage in the northeastern part of our state will be catastrophic, surpassing anything recorded in modern history.”