Storm Toll at 49 Amid Long Power Outages
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GREENVILLE, N.C. — The death toll from Hurricane Floyd and its aftermath rose to at least 49 Sunday, while a quarter-million customers from Cape Fear, N.C., to Baltimore remained without power.
Along the Virginia-North Carolina border, residents watched as rivers already far above record levels climbed still higher.
National Guard helicopters were used to search for stranded people and to shuttle food to stricken towns. Drinkable water had to be rushed to several counties where waste-water treatment plants failed.
About 300 roads, including parts of Interstates 95 and 40, were still closed Sunday, and 6,400 people remained in shelters.
Officials of Baltimore Gas & Electric Co., with more than 90,000 of its customers still waiting for electricity to be restored, said Floyd was the most devastating storm in the utility’s 180-year history. Virginia Power had 12,000 customers waiting in the dark late Sunday.
In North Carolina, the carcasses of dead animals are creating additional health risks. It could be next week or later before power and other services are restored to nearly 150,000 customers. At least 140,000 homes in other states were still without electricity.
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