Hurricane Florence is Now a Tropical Depression With Death Toll Still Climbing With A 16 Confirmed Dead In North Carolina
ANA CABRERA, CN HOST: Right now the water is not going down. There's a very desperate situation unfolding not far from there where a levee made of sandbags and gravel is the only thing standing between a rising river and major disaster. So straight to Eric Hill now. Erica, where are you standing? And just how fast is the water coming up there?</s>ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ana, it has been moving really quickly all day long. We are in what is called Little Park (ph) in downtown, Fayetteville. And the water that you see behind me is coming from the cross creek. This is one of the number of small creeks and waterways that feed into the Cape Fear River. And since, we first got here a bit before 11:00 this morning. There's a lamp post way off in the distance behind my shoulder. We can see the base of that lamp post. We can see the little feeding area beyond it where there is a bench. There are trash cans that are now under water. This has been steadily rising throughout the day. And that is a concern for officials here. Mandatory evacuations were put in place yesterday. Police and fire officials going door to door. We spoke with a woman earlier today. She says she answered the door when they came and said you are going to need to evacuate. She said she remembers what happened in her neighborhood during Matthew. And that's why she was packing up her car today. That's what officials want to hear. The biggest concern is that folks become complacent. That in moments like this when the rain has stopped, Ana, here in Fayetteville, people will decide to go outside. They will decide that it's safe to be out driving around. That is not the case. We learned on our way here last night. You don't want to be driving in the dark. You can't tell if a roadway is flooded. And that's where the danger comes in. Really quickly, the Cape Fear River which crested to 53 feet during Matthew, this part was covered in water well above my head at that point. The concern is when the river crests in the early part of this week, those numbers will likely be in the 60 foot plus range. So as you can imagine, that only broadens the scope of the potential damage. One area that we are also watching very closely is just a little bit south that also endured significant damage during hurricane Matthew. That is Lumberton, North Carolina. Polo Sandoval has been monitoring the situation there for the last couple of days and he joins us now with an update. And Polo, there have been some tense moments there this afternoon.</s>POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Erica. That's because the river, the Lumber River is going to go up before it begins to go down. In fact, it is expected to crest tonight. So by tomorrow, by daybreak, officials here are expect the river will be at possibly at record levels. In fact, all this water is coming from that river. It's flooded. Parts of interstate 95 in front of me and this road behind me, one of many. And I can tell you that we have seen many rescues here. Hundreds of them throughout the state of North Carolina. I witnessed one of them a little while ago here where a family of four with their four dogs was pulled by volunteers from their home. They are safe on dry land. They told me that they were hoping that it wouldn't get that bad. And when they saw that water slowly rising, then of course, they knew they had to get out. Here is why officials believe that it is like going to get even worse. There's two levees here in the city of Lumberton. The first one, officials say, is still doing OK. It's right on the banks of the Lumber River. The second one is makeshift levee that was put together by volunteers, members of the community, the National Guard in part of town they identified as the source of the flood water during hurricane Matthew. They patched that up. However, about three hours ago, we were with the U.S. coast guard and we watched as the levee brings this water, essentially begin to compromised that what have been created there. And now, as you continue to see here, the rain continues to come down which means that water will make its way into some of the communities, potentially into some of the infrastructure here. Two years ago, the water plant was heavily damaged. It took them up to a month before they can get water to everybody in this town. So Erica, I can tell you, though, many people have evacuated. There are some, however, that are staying put for one reason or another. Ultimately, they are the ones who have been through this before. And some of them are confident. But authorities are warning if you do feel that you are at risk, pick up the phone and call them. They will come get you if they have to.</s>HILL: Yes. And of course, while they still can. You know, Polo, I think you may have touched on this just a little bit. But I know one of the other big concerns certainly in the last 24 hours in that area have been the roadways and sections of 95 being closed. Other roadways in the Lumberton area. We are seeing this across the state of North Carolina. How much is that contributing or how much is that, you know, hindering in any, if it is at all, where people and how people are trying to evacuate?</s>SANDOVAL: It's certainly something that will get in the way of some of these school buses, for example, that are being used to evacuate people from neighborhood. However, they did establish certain dedicated roadways, mainly those overpasses on high ground that are being used to get people from one into the city to another. Because we have to keep in mind, as you mentioned there, interstate 95, a large portion of it, a major interstate is closed off. So that is certainly affecting people they are trying to head even north or south. But most of the traffic, most of those evacuees that are on their way to the shelter are usually heading east or west which allows them to use those access roads. But as you see here, there's still many roadways that are still covered in water and the dangers only going to get worse especially as night falls.</s>HILL: Yes, that's for sure. Polo Sandoval with the latest for us in Lumberton. Polo, thank you. I do also want to get you up to speed on some news that we are just learning. We have learned now of a 16th confirmed death that is related to this storm, a 3-month-old infant. This happened in North Carolina. We are told the 3-month-old succumb to injuries after the tree fell on the infant's home. So again, 16 now storm-related deaths, 11 of them in North Carolina. Five in South Carolina. Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is in the CNN weather center for us with the closer look at what is to come, not just later tonight but in the coming days. And Allison, it has been nice. We have a little bit of break here in Fayetteville. We are all wondering how long that can continue.</s>ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right. Yes, some of the breaks last 20 minutes. Some of them last two hours. At the end of the day, though, there are still more rain on the way. We have that band, and you can see here stretching from west of</s>HILL: And that's why it's so important. Allison, thank you. It is so important to reiterate what we heard from the governor earlier today. We are really only beginning to see the worst of the storm. It is just starting. Now is not the time to be complacent. Don't be fooled by the lull in the rain. It does not mean that you don't need to listen to the evacuate orders and you don't need to listen to your local officials. In fact, it's imperative that you do listen to them. Ana, we are going to send it back to you now.</s>CABRERA: The experts saying those rivers are still rising and now we know the death toll is still climbing as well with a 16 confirmed dead in North Carolina. Thank you very much, Erica. Breaking news out of Washington this afternoon. Brett Kavanaugh's accuser is now speaking out, publicly identifying herself. Details next live in the CNN NEWSROOM.