After The Rains, Casualties Mount Amid Florence’s Still-Rising Floodwaters

Teresa Nance returns to dry land after checking on her  flooded home in Lumberton, N.C. on Wednesday.

Joe Raedle / Getty Images

As floodwaters from former-Hurricane Florence’s massive rains continue to flow through the Carolinas, the end of the storm’s damage is nowhere in sight.

In Horry County, S.C., two women being taken for mental health care died on Tuesday night when the sheriff’s office van they were being transported in met floodwaters. The deputies transporting the two women reportedly drove around barriers and then were surprised by the flood. Authorities told media outlets that the deputies couldn’t get the rear doors open, and the two patients drowned inside the van. The deputies climbed on top of the van and were rescued; they have been placed on administrative leave.

At least 37 people have died in three states because of the storm; 24 of those died in vehicles, the AP reports.