As Tropical Storm Florence moves further inland into South Carolina today, Beaufort County remains under a tropical storm warning and an areal flood warning until 1 p.m. this afternoon and a flash flood watch until 8 p.m., according to the National Weather Service.

Showers and potential thunder storms remain likely through Sunday, with a chance of rainfall continuing through Tuesday, according to the NWS forecast.

During the course of the past 48 hours, local citizens have felt the impact of the storm in many ways. According to Beaufort County Emergency Services, approximately 12,000 residents without power as of 10 a.m. Friday morning. By 2 p.m., that number had been cut in half to 6,000, thanks to the hard work of both local linemen and crews who travelled to our area to assist with recovery. As of Saturday morning at 7 a.m., 4,800 Tideland EMC customers and 2,328 Duke Energy Progress customers remained without power. As of 4:30 p.m. on Friday, all circuits within the City of Washington were active, according to an update from the City of Washington.

By 11 a.m. on Friday, more than 90 water rescues had been conducted in the City of Washington alone. In Belhaven, police and other first responders brought numerous people to safety. On Saturday afternoon, Chocowinity Fire and EMS personnel made rescues on Whichards Beach and Sand Hill roads, two areas on the south side of the river that took a beating in the storm.

As of 7 a.m., water levels in the Pamlico river dropped to approximately 5.5 feet higher than normal, down three feet from the highest level of 8.55 feet on Friday morning. In the Pungo, the water was at 4.5 feet higher than normal, down more than two feet from the highest level of 6.67 feet on Friday. In both cases, periods of steady drainage saw a slight reversal in the early morning hours of Saturday, as rainwaters and runoff from the storm trickled into the waterways.

As the day came to an end last night, Beaufort County emergency Services offered the following sentiments on its Facebook page:

“Another day is coming to an end. Today, we might not have done everything for everybody, but we did all we could for as many as we could. It has been hectic. It has been exhausting. It has also been rewarding beyond what words can describe. We could not be prouder tonight of the team of people, from just about every department in the county, and the many volunteers and outside organizations that have worked together. Tomorrow we will begin to transition from response, to recovery. For a while the two will blur together. We ask for your patience as move through the process. In the end we will be stronger, we will be better, we will all be ok.”