Hurricane Florence is dumping rain on North Carolina and pushing a storm surge taller than most humans onto communities near the coast.
The centre of the eye of the hurricane made landfall in Wrightsville, North Carolina, and was moving slowly westward just south of Wilmington.
Coastal and river communities on the north side of Florence are getting the worst of the flooding as the hurricane swirls onto land pushing a life-threatening storm surge.
More than 415,000 homes and businesses were without power this morning.
Conditions are too dangerous for crews to respond to calls of help from hundreds of people who ignored the evacuation orders.