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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6173681/Looting-reported-Family-Dollar-Wilmington-North-Carolina-city-cut-floodwaters.html

Looters reportedly broke into a Family Dollar store in Wilmington as the city on North Carolina's coast has become a virtual island cut off by floodwaters following Hurricane Florence.

Police have arrested at least five people in connection with looting at the store on Greenfield Street on Saturday.

They first issued a warning about the activity that afternoon after the store's management reported it, but asked police to stand down.

Footage from local news station WECT shows dozens of people carrying any items they could get their hands on out of the store and back to a public housing community called Houston Moore.

While there were no members of law enforcement on the scene due to management's request, police enacted a curfew for the area from 5pm Saturday to 6am Sunday.

They also said many of the alleged looters could be identified in WECT's video. They encouraged locals to report anyone they recognized in the footage.

WECT reporter Chelsea Donovan, who went to the scene with another employee to film the looting, said: 'When we came over the hill on Greenfield Street, you could just see people everywhere.'

In her news coverage Donovan gestures into the store's front entrance as she says: 'You can see here inside just a complete mess, people taking duffel bags and trash bags, now noticing we're here [and] running away from the camera.'

A police vehicle with its siren blaring then pulls up as Donovan runs to the back entrance where other looters were attempting to make their escape.

'Hey guys, you know you're looting, right? You know you're stealing?' she says confronting the people coming out of the back.

One man with a plastic storage bin full of items appears to shrug at Donovan's confrontation.

Both journalists retreated to their vehicle soon after as they felt the situation had gotten out of hand.

'I was concerned the whole time. I won't lie, but I was there to get the story,' Donovan said.

It is unclear why Family Dollar management asked police not to intervene at the store, but the Wilmington Police Department has indicated offenders will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

'We're going to do everything we can to protect your property. This is not a response to the video. This has been our message [since] before the storm arrived,' the department said.

Large portions of Wilmington lost electricity over the weekend as thousands of residents were trapped in their homes due to downed trees and power lines in the wake of hurricane-turned-tropical-depression Florence, which has made its way inland.

To make matters worse, the local water utility service has warned it may have to shut down, which would leave residents in the city of more than 117,000 without drinkable water.

Rescue efforts in New Hanover County continued overnight Saturday and into Sunday as hundreds of residents were taken to shelters.

Local media reports that 'countless' homes have been damaged, but many homeowners who evacuated Wilmington head of the storm are now unable to get back to see how bad the situation actually is.

The city located on the southern end of North Carolina's coastline is already largely inaccessible by road from the rest of the state, and officials have warned rapidly-rising floodwaters could result in it being cut off completely.