Tracking Florence: Flooding cleanup already underway

Rivers approached record flood stage and more than 660,000 utility customers were without power Sunday as North Carolina struggled under the crushing fury of Florence, the mighty hurricane diminished to a tropical depression but still pounding the region with unrelenting rain.

The Florence death toll rose to 15 Sunday after a truck lost control on a flooded South Carolina road.

Florence has stalled over the Carolinas and was forecast to dump up to 10 more inches of rain in some areas, the National Hurricane Center said. Parts of southeastern North Carolina could see up to 40 inches before the rain ends later in the week. And the damage isn't confined to the coast.

"These rainfall amounts will produce catastrophic flash flooding, prolonged significant river flooding and an elevated risk for landslides in western North Carolina and far southwest Virginia," the hurricane center warned.

Some locations will see more than 30 inches of rain before the storm is finished later in the week, National Weather Service meteorologist Bob Oravec said. Swansboro, North Carolina already was awash in 34 inches of rain by Sunday afternoon.

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