Authorities on Saturday warned residents displaced by a killer hurricane that its devastation was far from over, as Florence dumped "epic amounts of rainfall" across the southeastern United States, bringing catastrophic flooding.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper told reporters that five deaths have been officially confirmed in his state, with several more under investigation.
The figure included a woman and her baby killed when a tree fell on their house, while a sixth fatality occurred in South Carolina.
The military is providing assistance to flood ravaged South Carolina. Source: AAP
Florence made landfall Friday as a Category 1 hurricane but has since been downgraded to a tropical storm, even as it continued to wreak havoc along the East Coast, downing trees and power lines and forcing 20,000 people to flee to shelters.
On Saturday some residents tried to return home, driving through flooded highways armed with chainsaws to clear fallen pine trees that covered the road.
Cooper warned against such behaviour as roads become increasingly dangerous.
"All roads in the state right now are at risk of floods," he said. "As rivers keep rising and rain keeps falling, the flooding will spread. More and more inland counties are issuing mandatory evacuations to get people to safety quickly."
He earlier said the storm system "is unloading epic amounts of rainfall: in some places, measured in feet, not inches."
In a separate briefing, Steve Goldstein of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said some areas have already received two feet of rain and could expect up to 20 inches more as the system moved "slowly, nearly stationary" over eastern North Carolina.
A yacht sits on the Neuse river bank in between buildings after hurricane Florence passed through the area. Source: AAP
In New Bern, a riverfront city near the North Carolina coast that saw storm surges up to 10 feet (three meters), authorities were rescuing stranded residents and taking stock of damages.
"Right now we've rescued over 400 people. We still have about 100 that want to be rescued and we have about 1,200 in the shelters," Mayor Dana Outlaw told CNN.
"We have 4,200 damaged homes," he said, urging residents to not wade out into the streets because of the dangers posed by downed power lines.
"The main thing right now is to get this water pumped down" from the city, he said. "We can pump 42,000 gallons (159,000 litres) a minute once we have water receded enough."
The doors of many homes suffered so much wind damage they appeared to have been kicked in, while the city's beloved fibre-glass bear statues, which are sponsored by local businesses, were floating down streets.
In one piece of good news, authorities said 16 wild ponies of hurricane-struck Ocracoke Island, located off the North Carolina coast, were safe.
Deadly path
South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster on Saturday announced the death of a 61-year-old woman who died when her car hit a downed tree on a highway.
In North Carolina, the mother and her baby were killed in New Hanover County when a tree fell on their house, Cooper said late Friday.
Firefighters said the area had not been in the zone under evacuation orders.
Local authorities reported a death in Pender County when downed trees prevented emergency units from reaching a woman with a medical condition. Local media said she suffered a heart attack.
US media later said a man in Lenoir County died after heavy winds knocked him down as he tried to check on his dogs.
More than 800,000 customers in North Carolina were without power and 21,000 people were being housed in 157 shelters across the state.
North Carolina has been declared a disaster zone, with flooding expected to worsen in some areas. (AAP)
