Video: Hurricane Florence Floods New Bern, North Carolina

New Bern in North Carolina has been severely flooded as Hurricane Florida caused the Neuse River to overflow its banks.

The National Weather Service says the Neuse River at Oriental, North Carolina, is well above flood stage and will likely rise.

Wind, rain, and waves from the Category 2 storm began to lash the North Carolina coastline on Sept. 13. Florence was expected to make landfall on the morning of Sept. 14.

More than 1.7 million people in Virginia, North and South Carolina were told to evacuate their homes.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center says Florence warned: “Water levels continue to rise quickly on the western side of Pamlico Sound.”

The storm is 50 miles from Morehead City and 70 miles from Wilmington.

The storm had 100 mph winds and is a Category 2 hurricane. It’s expected to dump several feet of rain and bring in at least nine feet of storm surge to the coast.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper warned: “Don’t relax, don’t get complacent. Stay on guard. This is a powerful storm that can kill. Today the threat becomes a reality,” AP reported.

The Weather Channel reported that about 300,000 have lost power so far.

“On the forecast track, the center of Florence will approach the coasts of North and South Carolina later tonight, then move near or over the coast of southern North Carolina and northeastern South Carolina in the hurricane warning area on Friday,” a recent NHC update said. “A slow motion across portions of eastern and central South Carolina is forecast Friday night through Saturday night.”

Storyful contributed to this report