NOT OUT OF THE WOODS

Florence Downgraded to Tropical Storm

Ten hours after it made landfall on the coast of North Carolina.

The National Hurricane Center downgraded Florence from a hurricane to a tropical storm Friday afternoon, 10 hours after it made landfall on the coast of North Carolina. The hurricane first made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane at about 7:15 a.m., according to the weather agency. Forecasters say that although Florence is now a tropical storm, it will continue to threaten the Carolinas with powerful winds up to 50 mph and catastrophic flooding. The storm, which is pounding the coast with more than 16 inches of rainfall, killed a mother and her infant when a tree fell onto their home in North Carolina. A third person died of a heart attack in a nearby county after emergency crews were delayed in getting to her house because of the hurricane, The Daily Beast reported.