SPIVEY'S CORNER, North Carolina - Francisco Javier Jaramillo and Victor Chavez should be picking sweet potatoes at a North Carolina farm and sending much-needed money to their families in Mexico.
Instead, Hurricane Florence has forced the migrant workers to evacuate their farm and seek refuge at a school-turned-shelter near the tiny hamlet of Spivey’s Corner, where they sleep in school hallways, wait and worry.
"If the sweet potato fields are flooded, we cannot work. If we cannot work, we will be sent home. We will have nothing," said Chavez, 39.
When Florence tore through the Carolinas last week, bringing wave after wave of wind and rain, the storm not only disrupted a harvest but also jeopardized its harvesters.
Known for its fields upon fields of sweet potatoes, tobacco and peanuts, North Carolina's agricultural engine is powered by more than 83,000 migrant workers.
Many come from Mexico and other Latin American countries to toil on restrictive contracts working fields that double as floodplains when the weather sours.
The contracts guarantee a certain number of working hours but that can be nullified if a farmer declares an act of god if, for example, fields are so flooded or hurricane-battered their crop cannot be salvaged. That would mean these workers get sent home without the hours, or money, promised.
A spokeswoman for North Carolina’s agriculture department said there are no estimates yet of the extent of crop damage.
At peak harvest in 2016 there were more than 83,000 migrant workers on North Carolina farms, according to the Employment Security Commission.
Workers on an H2A visa for temporary agricultural workers are among the most vulnerable people hit by a hurricane, according to advocates, lawyers and outreach workers who talked with Reuters. They have the least means to cushion the blow and the most to lose.
“H2A workers are very isolated, very vulnerable," said Lariza Garzon, with the Episcopal Farmworkers Ministry. "They may not know their rights.”
Lee Wicker, deputy director of the 700-farmer North Carolina Growers Association, said maybe decades ago that might have been true but now resources are in place to ensure workers have the supports they need.
About 20,000 of the workers come to North Carolina every year on H2A visas, which tether them to an employer on whom they rely for housing, transportation and, in many cases, information about the outside world, said Caitlin Ryland, a supervising attorney with Legal Aid of North Carolina's farmworker unit.
They are frequently housed in areas close to farmland that can be prone to flooding, Ryland said.
Wicker said that sometimes happens, but said storms like Florence have outsize effects.
For workers like Jaramillo and Chavez, in a precarious labor position and with limited access to outside information, leaving camps for a few days to wait out a storm can be daunting.
Misinformation is rampant: many believe fleeing a storm can get them deported and barred from returning.
If their employer reports them as having abandoned their job, under the terms of the H2A visa it can start the clock ticking on having to leave the United States, Ryland said.
Fleeing for their lives in the face of a storm does not count as abandoning a job, she said, but many workers may not know that.
A spokeswoman for North Carolina’s Department of Labor wrote in an email that "the Agricultural Safety and Health Bureau has not received any complaints from migrant workers concerning unsafe housing conditions due to the storm.”
Five migrant workers Reuters spoke with at a supermarket outside Clinton, in Sampson County about 35 miles (56 km) east of Fayetteville, had elected to stay in their work camps despite the threats presented by the weather.
Explaining why he stayed, Miguel Hernandez motioned to the cement blocks used to build his barracks in an area under a flash-flood warning - surely they could withstand a storm, he said.
But Luis Alberto, a 25-year-old migrant worker from the Mexican state of Nayarit, was scared for his life when he and four friends decided to go to a shelter several miles away.
Luis Alberto, who asked not to use his last name, regularly sends money home to support his family. What worries him now is what happens next – if the crop is destroyed, if they cannot get the contracted hours of work they need.
"We want to know what is going to happen to us," he said. "Can we keep working? Will we be sent back to Mexico?"
source: news.abs-cbn.com
A boat sits in a backyard after the passing of Hurricane Florence in New Bern, North Carolina, on Sunday. At least 17 people were reported killed and 900 rescued after Hurricane Florence dumped at least 40 inches of rain in North Carolina displacing thousands of residents.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
WILSON, North Carolina - Tropical Storm Florence was likely to weaken on Sunday as it swept through the Carolinas but dozens of communities are devastated and "epic" amounts of rain could still fall, officials said.
The storm is expected to become a Tropical Depression as it trudged inland early Sunday, knocking out power and causing at least eight deaths as flood waters kept rising.
North Carolina officials have reported at least seven storm-related fatalities with unconfirmed reports of a further three deaths. South Carolina authorities reported one death.
"This is still a catastrophic, life threatening storm," said Zack Taylor, a meteorologist with the National Weather Center's Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.
Winds have dropped to about 40 miles per hour (65 kph) since it roared ashore along the U.S. mid-Atlantic coast on Friday as a hurricane and it is crawling west over two states at 6 mph (9 kph), the National Hurricane Center in Miami said early Sunday.
Taylor said the storm already dumped 30 inches of rain on some parts of the NC.
"This storm is still deadly and dangerous and it's expected to turn northward later today into Virginia and the mid-Atlantic," he said.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said: "This system is unloading epic amounts of rainfall, in some places measured in feet and not inches." Rivers will continue to rise days after the rain has stopped, he said.
Around 50 stranded people were airlifted by helicopter in North Carolina, said Petty Officer Michael Himes of the US Coast Guard. More than 26,000 hunkered down in shelters.
Roads were closed and authorities warned of landslides, tornadoes and flash floods, with dams and bridges in peril as rivers and creeks swelled. As of Saturday, about 676,000 homes and businesses were without power in North Carolina, along with 119,000 in South Carolina.
The White House said President Donald Trump approved making federal funding available in some affected counties.
Trump, who plans to visit the region next week and he tweeted his "deepest sympathies and warmth" to the families and friends of those who had lost their lives.
WORST YET TO COME
Florence was drifting westward over South Carolina, reaching about 25 miles southeast of Columbia SC at 2 a.m. Sunday, the NHC said.
Up to 40 inches (102 cm) of rain are expected along coastal areas of the Carolinas and up to 10 inches in southwestern Virginia, it said.
In Fayetteville, a North Carolina city of about 210,000 people about 90 miles inland, authorities told thousands of residents near the Cape Fear River and Little River to get out of their homes by Sunday afternoon because of the flood risk.
"If you are refusing to leave during this mandatory evacuation, you need to do things like notify your legal next of kin because the loss of life is very, very possible," Mayor Mitch Colvin said at a news conference.
"The worst is yet to come," he added.
The storm made landfall on Friday near Wilmington, a city of about 120,000 squeezed between North Carolina's Atlantic coastline and the Cape Fear River.
Near the Sutton Power Plant in Wilmington, coal ash leaked from a Duke Energy landfill. The site lost enough material to fill around two-thirds of an Olympic-sized pool, the company said in a statement, adding that it did not believe the incident posed a risk to health or the environment.
Officials had warned before the storm rains could taint waterways with murky coal ash and toxic hog waste.
Florence has already set a North Carolina record for rainfall totals, exceeding that of Hurricane Floyd, which struck in 1999 and caused 56 deaths. Floyd produced 24 inches of rain in some parts of the state, while Florence has already dumped about 30 inches in areas around Swansboro.
In New Bern, about 90 miles northeast of Wilmington at the confluence of two rivers, Florence overwhelmed the town of 30,000 and left the downtown area under water. Some area residents described a harrowing retreat as the storm hit.
"It was pitch black and I was just scared out of my mind," said Tracy Singleton, who with her family later drove through torrential rain and high winds from her home near New Bern.
South Carolina authorities said law enforcement officers were guarding against looting in evacuated areas, while Wilmington set a curfew on Saturday evening in response to looting in one area.
As the United States dealt with Florence, a super typhoon swirled towards Hong Kong and the Chinese coast on Sunday, gaining in strength over the South China Sea after hurtling through the Philippines, where it wreaked havoc that killed at least 25.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
WILSON, North Carolina -- Tropical Storm Florence dumped "epic" amounts of rain on North and South Carolina as it trudged inland on Saturday, knocking out power and causing at least 8 deaths as flood waters that have devastated many communities kept rising.
Florence's intensity has diminished since it roared ashore along the US mid-Atlantic coast on Friday as a hurricane. But its slow march over the two states, crawling west at only 2 miles per hour (3 km per hour), is expected to leave large parts of the region deluged in the coming days.
"This system is unloading epic amounts of rainfall, in some places measured in feet and not inches," North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper told a news briefing. His state has already endured record rainfall, with much more forecast to come. Rivers will continue to rise days after the rain has stopped, he said.
"This is a hurricane event followed by a flood event," said South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster.
With flood waters advancing rapidly in many communities, stranded people were being rescued by boat and by helicopter, while tens of thousands of others hunkered down in shelters. Numerous roads were closed, and authorities warned of the risk of landslides, tornadoes and flash floods, with dams and bridges in peril as rivers and creeks swelled.
Utility crews worked to restore electricity. As of Saturday afternoon, about 752,000 homes and businesses were without power in North Carolina, along with 119,000 in South Carolina.
Helicopter crews have carried out dozens of missions in coastal North Carolina and helped in the rescue of 50 people and eight pets, said Petty Officer Michael Himes of the U.S. Coast Guard.
RISING RIVERS
At 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT), the National Hurricane Center said Florence had maximum sustained winds near 45 miles per hour. It said it was located about 60 miles west of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and forecasters predicted a slow westward march.
The center said the storm would dump as much as 40 inches (102 cm) of rain along coastal areas of the Carolinas, as well as up to 10 inches in southwestern Virginia.
In Fayetteville, a North Carolina city of about 210,000 people about 90 miles inland, authorities told thousands of residents near the Cape Fear River and Little River to get out of their homes because of the flood risk.
"If you are refusing to leave during this mandatory evacuation, you need to do things like notify your legal next of kin because the loss of life is very, very possible," Mayor Mitch Colvin said at a news conference.
Officials said there had been at least 7 storm-related fatalities in the state.
Authorities in South Carolina reported one death, saying a woman was killed when her vehicle struck a fallen tree.
The storm made landfall on Friday near Wilmington, a city of about 120,000 squeezed between North Carolina's Atlantic coastline and the Cape Fear River. On Saturday, its streets were strewn with downed tree limbs and carpeted with leaves and other debris. Electricity remained out for much of the city, known for its historic mansions, with power lines lying across roads like wet strands of spaghetti.
"The fact that there haven't been more deaths and damage is amazing and a blessing," said Rebekah Roth, walking around Wilmington's Winoca Terrace neighborhood.
Florence has already set a North Carolina record for rainfall totals, exceeding that of Hurricane Floyd, which struck in 1999 and caused 56 deaths. Floyd produced 24 inches of rain in some parts of the state, while Florence has already dumped about 30 inches in areas around Swansboro.
In New Bern, about 90 miles northeast of Wilmington at the confluence of two rivers, Florence overwhelmed the town of 30,000 and left the downtown area under water. Some area residents described a harrowing retreat as the storm hit.
"It was pitch black and I was just scared out of my mind," said Tracy Singleton, who with her family later drove through torrential rain and high winds from her home near New Bern.
More than 20,000 people were in 157 shelters in North Carolina, with nearly 6,000 in South Carolina shelters, officials said.
South Carolina authorities said law enforcement officers were guarding against looting in evacuated areas, while Wilmington set a curfew on Saturday evening in response to looting in one area.
Schoolteacher Leslie Ochoa said she and her family loaded up 10 adults, 5 children, 14 goats, 10 dogs, two cats and one guinea pig and evacuated from Jacksonville, North Carolina to Columbia, South Carolina last Tuesday. As her son fed the goats in a hotel parking lot, she said she might not be able to return home until the middle of next week.
"Our friend behind our old house, they have gators swimming in the water. So yeah, not safe," Ochoa said.
The White House said President Donald Trump approved making federal funding available in some affected counties. Trump plans a visit to the region next week.
As the United States dealt with Florence, a strong typhoon tore across the northern tip of the Philippines, killing at least 3 people, wrecking homes and triggering landslides before heading toward Hong Kong and southern China.
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WILMINGTON - Hurricane Florence, on track to become the first Category 4 storm to make a direct hit on North Carolina in 6 decades, howled closer to shore on Tuesday, threatening to unleash deadly pounding surf, days of torrential rain and severe flooding.
Fierce winds and massive waves are expected to lash the coasts of North and South Carolina and Virginia even before Florence makes landfall on Friday, and its rains will take a heavy toll for miles inland, the National Hurricane Center in Miami warned.
Although Florence was still days from arrival, authorities took extraordinary measures to move people out of harm's way. More than 1 million residents have been ordered to evacuate from coastal areas of the 3 states, closing university campuses, schools and factories.
Packing maximum sustained winds of 140 miles per hour (225 km per hour), the storm ranked as a Category 4 on the 5-step Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale and was expected to grow stronger and larger over the next few days, the NHC said.
"This storm is a monster," North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said. "Even if you've ridden out storms before, this one is different. Don't bet your life on riding out a monster."
He cited forecasts showing Florence was likely to stall over North Carolina, "bringing days and days of rain."
To hasten evacuations from coastal South Carolina, officials reversed the flow of traffic on some highways so all major roads led away from shore. Miles of traffic slowed to a crawl along the main highway along North Carolina's Outer Banks barrier islands.
Maps of Florence's trajectory showed the center of the storm most likely to strike the southern coast of North Carolina. The last Category 4 hurricane to plow directly into North Carolina was Hazel in 1954, a devastating storm that killed 19 people and destroyed some 15,000 homes.
But NHC spokesman Dennis Feltgen stressed the effects of Florence would be widely felt. Tropical storm-force winds would extend nearly 300 miles across 3 states. A hurricane warning was posted for most of the Carolina coast north to the Virginia border.
In addition to flooding the coast with wind-driven storm surges of seawater as high as 13 feet (4 m), Florence could dump 15 to 25 inches (38 to 64 cm) of rain, with up to 35 inches (89 cm) in some spots, forecasters said.
LONG-TERM POWER OUTAGES POSSIBLE
Communities in Florence's path could be without electricity for weeks due to downed power lines and flooded equipment, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Brock Long said.
Utility companies deployed crews and gear in advance, according to trade group, the Edison Electric Institute. Workers from at least 15 states were en route to the region to assist with what could be a lengthy power restoration effort.
Crews also prepared 16 nuclear reactors in the three-state region for the storm. One power station, Duke Energy Corp's Brunswick plant, the closest to the area where landfall is forecast, faced a likely shutdown as a precaution. Shutdowns also were possible at two more plants in the path of predicted hurricane-force winds.
The American Red Cross said more than 700 workers were headed to the target area while shelters were set up to take in those who could not evacuate. A hospital in Hampton, Virginia, was transferring patients to safer places.
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed declarations of emergency for North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, freeing up federal resources for storm response.
"We are sparing no expense. We are totally prepared," Trump said at the White House.
Trump faced severe criticism for his administration's response to Hurricane Maria last year in Puerto Rico. Some 3,000 people died in the aftermath of that storm.
COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS
Days before its arrival, Florence was already disrupting commercial operations.
Boeing Co suspended work on Tuesday at the South Carolina plant where it assembles 787 widebody jetliners, and a Volvo automobile plant in South Carolina's evacuation zone was also closed, company officials said.
Smithfield Foods Inc said it would shut down the world's largest hog-slaughtering facility in Tar Heel, North Carolina, on Thursday and Friday due to the hurricane.
Residents prepared by boarding up their homes and stocking up on food, water and other essentials, stripping many grocery store shelves of merchandise. Some gasoline stations also ran low on fuel.
Not everyone was in a hurry to leave. Charles Mullen, 81, a longtime resident of Hatteras Island, North Carolina, said he had ridden out many storms and that most locals were planning to stay unless Florence took aim at Hatteras.
"If it decides to come here, we're gone," he said.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
Could make landfall in Carolinas on Thursday
North Carolina governor says entire state may be impacted
Inland flooding expected to be intense
HOLDEN BEACH, North Carolina - Florence, the most powerful storm to menace the U.S. mainland this year, intensified into a Category 4 hurricane as it howled closer to the Carolinas on Monday, prompting evacuations of more than 1 million people to higher ground.
Packing maximum sustained winds of 130 miles per hour (209 kph), the storm was due to gain even greater strength before making landfall early on Thursday, bringing heavy rains with the potential to unleash widespread, severe flooding, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami.
"Florence is expected to be an extremely dangerous major hurricane through Thursday," the NHC said in a bulletin.
Maps of the storm's trajectory showed it likely to come ashore somewhere near the border of North Carolina and South Carolina. The governors of both states declared states of emergency.
"We do not want to risk one South Carolina life in this hurricane," Governor Henry McMaster told a news conference.
He estimated about 1 million residents would flee the coast of his state, following earlier orders for the evacuation of more than 50,000 people from the southern-most Outer Banks barrier islands of North Carolina. An estimated 250,000 more people from the northern Outer Banks were due to be sent to higher ground starting Tuesday at midday.
"We are in the bull's-eye," North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said at a news conference. "This is going to be a statewide event."
OFF CAPE FEAR
Florence grew into a major hurricane on Monday morning and was upgraded again to a Category 4 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane strength at midday as its top sustained wind speeds reached 130 mph. At that point the storm was centered about 1,170 miles (1,880 km) east-southeast of Cape Fear, North Carolina, the NHC said.
The United States was hit with a series of high-powered hurricanes last year, including Hurricane Maria, which killed about 3,000 people in Puerto Rico, and Hurricane Harvey, which killed 68 and caused an estimated $1.25 billion in damage from catastrophic flooding in Houston.
U.S. President Donald Trump, whose administration was harshly criticized as being slow to respond to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, canceled a political rally planned for Friday in Jackson, Mississippi, over safety concerns related to Florence, his campaign said.
Florence could bring a deadly coastal storm surge, and inland flooding as far north as Virginia, the NHC said.
Immediately to the north of Virginia, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan said his state was also was "preparing for the potential of historic, catastrophic and life-threatening flooding."
Historically, 90 percent of fatalities from hurricanes, tropical storms and tropical depressions have been caused by water, NHC spokesman Dennis Feltgen said. Some 27 percent of the deaths have come from rain-driven flooding, sometimes hundreds of miles inland.
'CAN'T PLAY AROUND'
In Holden Beach, North Carolina, in the storm's path, longtime residents were boarding up homes and securing possessions.
"It's scary to all of us. We know we can't play around with this," said Jennifer Oosterwyk, who owns the Sugar Britches boutique on Holden Beach and lives in nearby Wilmington.
Oosterwyk was gathering tax documents and other important papers from her store on Monday, and said she planned to drive 150 miles (240 km) inland to ride out the storm in the town of Cary.
As the storm advanced, Monday afternoon was a postcard-perfect day on Holden Beach with bright blue skies, placid puffy clouds and light breezes. By 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT), the previously calm surf began to show some chop.
The U.S. military said it was sending an advance team to Raleigh, North Carolina, to coordinate with federal and state partners. It said about 750 military personnel will be designated to provide support.
The U.S. Navy said it was sending nearly 30 ships from coastal Virginia out of port to ride out the storm.
Other military personnel, however, could find themselves directly in harm's way.
The largest U.S. Marine Corps base on the East Coast, Camp Lejeune and its extensive beachfront northeast of Wilmington, North Carolina, lie within the NHC's forecast "cone" for possible landfall.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
HOLDEN BEACH, N.C., Sept 10 (Reuters) - North Carolina residents boarded up their homes and piled cars with valuables on Monday after officials warned coastal areas would be hit from Hurricane Florence, the most powerful storm to take aim at the U.S. mainland this year.
The storm had winds of 130 miles per hour (209 kph) and was due to gain strength before it made landfall, which the U.S. National Hurricane Center said was likely to occur early Thursday, bringing heavy rain that could cause severe flooding through the region.
"We are in the bull's-eye," North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper told a news conference Monday. Officials ordered residents and visitors to begin evacuating the Outer Banks. "This is going to be a statewide event."
The United States faced a series of high-powered hurricanes last year, including Hurricane Maria, which killed some 3,000 people in Puerto Rico, and Hurricane Harvey, which killed about 68 people and caused an estimated $1.25 billion in damage when it brought catastrophic flooding to Houston.
By 11 a.m. ET (1500 GMT) on Monday, Florence was about 1,240 miles (2,000 km) east-southwest of Cape Fear, North Carolina, and was a Category 4, the second-strongest on the Saffir-Simpson scale, the NHC said.
U.S. President Donald Trump, whose administration faced severe criticism for a slow response in Puerto Rico to Hurricane Maria, canceled a political rally planned for Friday in Jackson, Mississippi, over safety concerns related to Florence, his campaign said.
Cooper declared a state of emergency in North Carolina, as did his counterparts in neighboring South Carolina and Virginia. He said he had asked Trump to declare a federal state of emergency for North Carolina.
Florence could bring a life-threatening coastal storm surge, and inland flooding as far north as Virginia, the NHC said.
Historically, 90 percent of fatalities from hurricanes, tropical storms and tropical depressions have been caused by water, said NHC spokesman Dennis Feltgen said. Some 27 percent of the deaths have come from rain-driven flooding, sometimes hundreds of miles inland.
'CAN'T PLAY AROUND'
Holden Beach, North Carolina, was in the storm's path, according to forecasts on Monday. Longtime residents could be seen boarding up homes and securing possessions.
"It's scary to all of us. We know we can't play around with this," said Jennifer Oosterwyk, who owns the Sugar Britches boutique on Holden Beach and lives in nearby Wilmington.
Oosterwyk was gathering important papers including tax documents from her store on Monday, and said she planned to drive 150 miles (240 km) inland to Cary to ride the storm out.
Dare County Emergency Management told residents and visitors to evacuate Hatteras Island by Tuesday at noon.
The U.S. military said it was sending an advanced team to Raleigh, North Carolina, to coordinate with federal and state partners and that about 750 military personnel will be set aside to provide support.
The U.S. Navy added that it was sending nearly 30 ships from Virginia to sea in order to avoid damage.
The NHC also was tracking two other hurricanes farther out in the Atlantic: Category 1 Isaac and Category 2 Helene.
Wall Street was trying to pick winners and losers.
Shares of Generac Holdings Inc, building materials maker Owens Corning and roofing supplier Beacon Roofing Supply Inc were up between 4 percent and 6 percent. Retailers Lowe's Companies Inc was up 2.3 percent and Home Depot Inc gained 2 percent.
Several insurers seen vulnerable to potential claims losses slipped, led by a 2 percent drop in Allstate Corp and a 1.8 percent decline in Travelers Companies Inc.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
