A week after Hurricane Michael battered Florida's Gulf Coast with record fury, the full extent of devastation and loss of life remained unclear on Wednesday, as disruptions to phone, power and transportation systems hindered the disaster recovery.
While the attention of emergency officials, the media and even President Donald Trump has been focused on the devastated beachfront towns hardest hit by the storm, residents in battered communities farther inland said they were making do until disaster relief was able to reach them.
Emergency management officials on Wednesday scaled back their flooding forecasts for coastal South Carolina but urged residents not to be complacent as the rivers swollen by Hurricane Florence wreak havoc on the state.
Thousands of people in and around the city of Georgetown, South Carolina, were urged to evacuate on Monday as two rivers gorged with rain from long-departed Hurricane Florence will flood the area this week.
Only about 1 percent of homes in North Carolina's inland counties are insured through the national flood insurance program, according to federal data, compared with 25 percent to 50 percent of homeowners on the coast.
