Michael Leaves But Area Rivers Still Rising

State Transportation Secretary Jim Trogdon says that while the skies may be clear, many of the roads are not. Fallen trees and downed power lines are still a problem across the state. And he says there are still rivers that haven't yet crested.

“We do anticipate - with rising water in the Yadkin River Basin - we may get some additional roads closed due to flooding today,” he said.

As of 10 am, more than 480,000 people in North Carolina were without power. Hardest hit was a swath through the central part of the state, with Forsyth and Guilford among the counties with the most outages.

North Carolina is a major recipient of a $1.5 billion dollar federal aid package passed in the wake of Hurricane Florence. Gov. Roy Cooper says it's too early to tell if he'll make a request for federal funds to assist with relief from Tropical Storm Michael's damage.

“We want to make sure that North Carolina gets every dollar and every bit of attention it's entitled to, and we'll be looking at that today. It'll be one of the things I'm looking at,” he said.

Cooper says preliminary assessments indicate that the damage might not reach the level that would lead to a request for federal assistance.

Minor river flooding is a possibility that could extend through the weekend, the weather service says. A flood warning is in effect until Sunday for the Yadkin River at Davidson and Davie counties.

As of 5 a.m. the Yadkin there was at 21 feet. It's expected to rise to about 27 feet overnight before falling below flood stage Saturday afternoon. That's high enough to potentially flood some homes along the river.

A flood warning is also in effect for the Haw River in Alamance County.