The Latest: Ferry services resuming in North Carolina

WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — The Latest on Florence (all times local):

7:20 p.m.

North Carolina transportation officials say ferry service for the public has resumed for several more coastal routes.

In addition, the N.C. Department of Transportation said Wednesday two state ferries arrived in Southport late Tuesday evening carrying fuel, transportation workers and supplies to the Wilmington area.

The department said in a news release the Southport to Fort Fisher routes resumed Wednesday on a limited schedule for Brunswick County residents and essential vendors, people with critical medical and commerce responsibilities and infrastructure support personnel.

The department said the Cherry Branch-Minnesott Beach ferry service resumed Wednesday for daytime trips only. The Bayview-to-Aurora ferry services resumed Tuesday evening and the Currituck to Knotts Island ferry resumed full service on Sept. 15.

The ferry service between Swan Quarter and Ocracoke Island and the Cedar Island-to-Ocracoke ferry have both resumed limited service.

6:10 p.m.

The National Weather Service has confirmed that the remnants of Hurricane Florence spawned a total of eight tornadoes in Virginia earlier this week.

The weather service's office in Wakefield, Virginia, said Wednesday that meteorologists have confirmed two additional tornadoes hit the area on Monday. That brings the total for that day to eight.

Seven of the tornadoes were spread across the Richmond metro area. Another tornado hit Mecklenburg County, near the North Carolina border, the same day.

The strongest tornado leveled a flooring company in Chesterfield, killing a man who worked there. That storm was categorized as an EF2 tornado, packing winds of 120 miles (193 kilometers) per hour.

4:55 p.m.

Amtrak says its passenger train service in and through North Carolina is set to resume.

The carrier announced Wednesday that service will resume Thursday, more than a week after it had been interrupted for a combination of Hurricane Florence and track improvements. Passenger service in North Carolina was canceled on Sept. 11 as the storm approached the coast.

The Piedmont and Carolinian are among the trains set to resume service. They are both funded by the North Carolina Department of Transportation. The trains run between Raleigh and Charlotte, with the Carolinian continuing to New York. NCDOT added that restoration of the Carolinian between Raleigh and New York City is dependent on CSX finishing repairs to a line north of Selma.

Amtrak's Crescent service resumed on Wednesday. Northbound and southbound service through North Carolina will begin early Thursday. Three other trains will resume service through North Carolina on Sunday.

4:55 p.m.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation says its maintenance crews are working to restore the protective dunes that Hurricane Florence washed over N.C. Highway 12 on the Outer Banks.

The department said in a news release Wednesday that crews are working to clear sand from the pavement and build a protective berm. A contract is expected to be awarded in the next few days for work to restore the protective dunes and repair damage to the pavement.

Also, the department said a section of N.C. 12 on the northern end of Ocracoke Island between the Pony Pen and the ferry dock remains closed because of sand from ocean overwash and resulting pavement damage. A timeline has not been determined for completing the work on Ocracoke Island, which is accessible only by ferry.

4:10 p.m.

Officials in Cumberland County, the City of Fayetteville and the Town of Wade have rescinded the mandatory evacuation order for areas within 1 mile (1.5 kilometers) of the banks of the Cape Fear and the Little rivers.

Officials said in a statement Wednesday that the two rivers have crested and are receding.

They urge residents to remain vigilant as there may be flooding in some areas as waters recede. They're warning people not to skirt or move barricades as they mark flooded areas and sink holes.

2:40 p.m.

Authorities say the mental health patients who drowned in a South Carolina sheriff's department van were on a court-ordered transport when they were swept off the road by rushing flood waters.

Horry (OR-ee) County Sheriff Phillip Thompson told reporters on Wednesday that 45-year-old Windy Newton and 43-year-old Nicolette Green were in the back of a containment van when rising waters carried it off the road Tuesday night in Marion County.

Officials have said two deputies in the van were able to get out and tried to free the women. Thompson says Deputies Joshua Bishop and Stephen Flood have been placed on leave during an internal and state police investigation.

Authorities have said the women were being transported from one facility to another. The van was near the Little Pee Dee River, one of the bodies of water state officials are watching following the heavy rains of Florence.

2:40 p.m.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper says he plans to hold President Donald Trump to his promise to support North Carolina "100 percent" as the state starts what is expected to be a long recovery from devastation caused by Hurricane Florence.

Cooper said at a news conference in the storm-battered town of Newport that he told Trump during his visit to North Carolina on Wednesday that the state will need significant federal resources to recover. Cooper said there are still about 7,800 people staying in emergency shelters and nearly 200,000 people without power. About 900 roads remain closed.

Cooper said he also told Trump that the federal government will have to "take a special approach" to help North Carolina's farmers because they have "taken a gut punch." The governor said there are entire farms under water, sweet potato and cotton crops have been destroyed, and significant losses in the pork and poultry industries.

Cooper said he told Trump: "This is going to take more than a farm bill."

2:30 p.m.

North Carolina's electric cooperatives say they have made substantial progress restoring power knocked out by Hurricane Florence.

In a news release Wednesday, the North Carolina Electric Cooperatives say outages have dropped to about 58,000, from a historic high of 326,000 on Saturday.

Remaining outages are concentrated in the hardest-hit areas of coastal and southeastern North Carolina.

Cooperative crews from less-affected regions are joining local, out-of-state and contract crews in more heavily damaged communities to help restore power as quickly as possible.

The release noted that power restoration could last several more days in the areas most affected by Florence by flooded or damaged roadways and power poles and power lines.

Meanwhile, Duke Energy is reporting slightly more than 127,000 customers without power, with all but 530 of them in southeastern North Carolina.

12:45 p.m.

As North Carolina's farmers evaluate their crop losses after Hurricane Florence, it looks like damage to tobacco fields and barns could be the most costly.

The Tobacco Growers Association of North Carolina estimates 100 million to 125 million pounds (45 to 57 million kilograms) of tobacco leaf could be damaged by flooding, winds and power outages. Association CEO Graham Boyd said Wednesday that could equate to $250 million to $350 million in farm revenues.

Boyd says about 40 percent of the crop remained in the field when the storm arrived, and often leaves at the top of the stalks considered the most valuable had yet to be harvested.

North Carolina is the nation's top producer of tobacco, which remains one of the most valuable crops for farmers.

Farm groups also are concerned about cotton, sweet potatoes, peanuts and corn. Flooded roads and farmlands have delayed evaluation efforts.

12:30 p.m.

The Department of Public Safety says all of Interstate 95 in South Carolina is now open.

A 9-mile (14-kilometer) stretch of the highway northbound had been closed because of flooding due to former Hurricane Florence. 

The department tweeted about the reopening on Wednesday.

The section reopening is from mile marker 181 to 190. 

11:55 a.m.

A South Carolina sheriff says his office is performing an internal investigation into the circumstances surrounding the drownings of two women in a sheriff's office van who were being brought to a mental health facility.

Horry County Sheriff Phillip Thompson says in a statement Wednesday that he's also cooperating with the State Law Enforcement Division to learn exactly what happened Tuesday night in Marion County.

Thompson identified the women as 45-year-old Windy Newton and 43-year-old Nicolette Green. Earlier, Marion County Coroner Jerry Richardson had Newton identified with a different last name.

Dive crews were still working at the scene around noon Wednesday to recover the van, which officials say was swept off a rain-soaked road at around 6 p.m. Tuesday. Two deputies were rescued from the top of the van, and Horry County officials say they tried to get the women out.

The incident happened near the Little Pee Dee River, which is one of the bodies of water officials are monitoring for intense flooding from Florence.

11:30 a.m.

The National Weather Service has confirmed that the remnants of Hurricane Florence spawned a total of six tornadoes in Virginia earlier this week.

Five of the tornadoes on Monday were spread across the Richmond area. A sixth tornado hit Mecklenburg County, near the North Carolina border, the same day.

News outlets report that teams from the National Weather Service in Wakefield, Virginia, surveyed damage from the storms Tuesday and confirmed the number at six.

The strongest tornado leveled a flooring company in Chesterfield, killing a man who worked there. That storm was categorized as an EF2 tornado, with winds of 120 miles (193 kilometers) per hour.

11:30 a.m.

The U.S. Military says more than 12,000 troops are supporting federal, state and local response efforts in areas affected by former Hurricane Florence.

U.S. Northern Command said in a news release late Tuesday that about 5,600 personnel are active-duty and reserve forces. Another 6,800 are National Guard.

They've been using high-water vehicles and other equipment to rescue dozens of people. They've also evacuated hundreds of people from homes and buildings.

U.S. Northern Command said the troops will stay until they're no longer needed.

11:30 a.m.

The mayor of Nichols, South Carolina, says his tiny town is underwater again.

Mayor Lawson Battle said Wednesday morning the water is about as high as it was two years ago during Hurricane Matthew, when 90 percent of the buildings in the town of 350 were flooded.

The Little Pee Dee and the Lumber rivers flow past either side of town before converging about 3 miles (5 kilometers) downstream.

Battle says as far as he knows, everyone evacuated the town as the water first started to make its way in on Monday.

The National Weather Service says the Lumber River rose 4 feet (1.2 meters) in 24 hours and was still rising Wednesday morning. The Little Pee Dee River rose nearly 3 feet (1 meter) over the same time.

No official forecast has been given on when the rivers might crest.

11:20 a.m.

North Carolina officials say a body has been found in a trailer near the flooding Cape Fear River.

Cumberland County Sheriff's Office says search-and-rescue teams responded late Tuesday to a report of a body just south of Fayetteville.

The sheriff's office told the Fayetteville Observer the teams weren't able to retrieve the body because the trailer was surrounded by water.

But sheriff's spokesman Lt. Sean Swain told The Associated Press that authorities have not confirmed if the man drowned due to flooding from former Hurricane Florence, or if he died of other causes.

11:20 a.m.

Two mental health patients referred to by officials as "detainees" who drowned in the back of a sheriff's department transport van in South Carolina have no arrest records in the state.

That's according to documents obtained from the State Law Enforcement Division concerning 45-year-old Windy Wenton and 43-year-old Nicolette Green.

Horry County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Brooke Holden says the pair were in a sheriff's office transport van Tuesday night when it was swept off a rain-soaked road.

Marion County Coroner Jerry Richardson tells The Associated Press two deputies were transporting the women between Nichols and Mullins night. The deputies were rescued from the top of the van, and Horry County officials say they tried to get the women out.

The patients' bodies were being recovered Wednesday morning.

The incident happened near the Little Pee Dee River, which is one of the bodies of water officials are monitoring for intense flooding from Florence.

11 a.m.

The Department of Public Safety says all of Interstate 95 in South Carolina is now open

A 9-mile (14-kilometer) stretch of the highway northbound had been closed because of flooding due to former Hurricane Florence.

The section reopening is from mile marker 181 to 190.

9:45 a.m.

State officials in North Carolina now say 3.4 million chickens and 5,500 hogs have been killed in flooding from Florence. The former hurricane swamped dozens of farm buildings where the animals were being raised for market.

Officials previously had estimated that about 1.7 million chickens had drowned and that the number of potential hog deaths was unknown.

The N.C. Department of Agriculture issued the mortality totals as major flooding continues in the state due to the storm's drenching rains.

Sixteen North Carolina rivers were at major flood stage Tuesday, with an additional three forecast to peak by Thursday.

8:35 a.m.

Officials have identified the two mental health patients who drowned when a van they were riding in was swept away in South Carolina flood waters.

Marion County Coroner Jerry Richardson tells The Associated Press that 45-year-old Windy Wenton and 43-year-old Nicolette Green were being transported by a Horry County Sheriff's Office van between Nichols and Mullins on Tuesday night when the van was swept away by rising waters. Two deputies were rescued from the top of the van, and Horry County officials say they tried to get the women out.

Richardson says the patients' bodies were being recovered Wednesday morning.

Richardson says the incident happened near the Little Pee Dee River, which is one of the bodies of water officials are monitoring for intense flooding following Florence.

11 p.m.

Authorities confirm two detainees drowned when a van was swept away in rising flood waters in South Carolina.

Horry County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Brooke Holden says a sheriff's office van was carrying two detainees and two deputies from Conway to Darlington on Tuesday night when it was overtaken by flood waters. Officials say the van was traveling near the Little Pee Dee River, one of the bodies of water officials in South Carolina are watching closely as water continues to poor into the state from upriver in North Carolina following the heavy rains of Florence.

Marion County Coroner Jerry Richardson confirmed to AP earlier Tuesday that two women died in the incident. Their names have not been released.

Holden says the deputies tried to get the detainees out but couldn't open the doors. High-water rescue teams plucked the deputies from the top of the van.

The incident is being investigated by the State Law Enforcement Division.

Forecasters predict some rivers in the northeastern area of the state might not reach their highest levels until later this week or next week.