tropical storm florence, it is here, moving inland slowly at a snail s pace, causing widespread flooding and heavy rains associated with these bands that are throughout the southeastern part of the u.s. officials fear the impact of all the water could be catastrophic before it s finally over. remember, florence was once a category 4 hurricane. so it s bringing on shore major storm surge in addition to major rains, leaving behind a great deal of debris on the roads. we know of at least five deaths from this storm. hundred s of people who didn t follow the warnings to evacuate or were unable to leave had to be rescued from the rapidly rising waters here. more than 900,000 customers presently without power. earlier, i spoke with a person who rode the storm out, crystal webb in myrtle beach, south
on stilts. and since 1989, a lot more people have moved to this area. there are a lot more people that could be impacted now. over 400,000 have evacuated from the coast of south carolina, expecting florence to come. here in north myrtle beach, 85% of the people left, maybe 2,000 or so hunkered down, hoping for the best. they told us that one guy told me, you know, when it was downgraded from a 3 to a 2, a category 3 to a 2, i decided to stay. but listen, the winds may be not as strong as feared, but this storm is still carrying so much water and moving so slowly and dumping all that fresh water inland. and then as i mentioned, we have the threat of the ocean. nick watt, cnn, north myrtle beach, south carolina. nick watt, thank you so much. now thousands of people evacuated ahead of the storm, though many were forced to leave their pets behind. some shelters wouldn t allow pets. earlier, i spoke to crystal webb