President Barack Obama declared state of emergency in South Carolina Saturday over flooding as re-intensified Hurricane Joaquin continues to batter the U.S. east coast.
Obama also ordered federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts in flood-hit areas in South Carolina, a White House statement said.
The flood-hit Charleston town was almost entirely shut down, and a number of people were rescued from stranded cars on water-logged roads, according to Sky News.
"Where we normally are dealing with flooding for a few hours, we're dealing with it in days here. We're seeing areas flood today that did not traditionally flood," Charleston Police Chief Greg Mullen said, according to the Associated Press.
Weather-related accidents claimed four lives in South Carolina so far, reported CNN. Three died in separate traffic incidents on Friday and Saturday, while a person died on Thursday when a tree fell on his car.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) termed Joaquin an "extremely dangerous" storm, warning that it is heading on a northeast forecast path threatening Bermuda.
"Joaquin is moving toward the northeast near 20 mph (31km/h). A turn toward the north-northeast is expected later tonight, with this motion continuing through Sunday night," the NHC said in its latest advisory on Oct.3.
"On the forecast track, the center of storm will pass near Bermuda late Sunday or Sunday night," it said.
