Eight people, including a mother and her infant child, have died in the Carolinas from the deadly effects of Hurricane Florence.

The powerful storm flattened trees, buckled buildings and knocked out power to nearly 930,000 homes and businesses as it battered the southeast coast of the US.

It made landfall on Friday with a life-threatening storm surge pushing water inland for miles and more than 60 people had to be pulled from a collapsing motel.

Nearly 400 people had to be rescued from their flooded homes in New Bern, North Carolina, after they decided to try and see out the wind and rain.

Governor Roy Cooper called Florence an "uninvited brute" that could wipe out entire communities as it grinds its way across land.

"The fact is this storm is deadly and we know we are days away from an ending," he said.

Florence was downgraded to a tropical storm with winds of 60 mph (95 kph) as it slowly moved west.

The first known deaths related to the storm were a mother and her infant child who were killed when a tree fell on their house in Wilmington, North Carolina.

In Lenoir County a 78-year-old man was electrocuted and a 77-year-old man was found dead after he went outside to check on his dogs.

A woman also died of a suspected heart attack in Pender county. Although it was not directly related to Florence, emergency services were blocked from attending by storm damage. On Saturday, a further three deaths were confirmed. According to Duplin County Sherriff Blake Wallace, two of the deaths happened outside of Kenansville, while the third happened in Kornegay.

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Experts had warned the effects of the hurricane could be devastating.

“This is a horrific nightmare storm from a meteorological perspective,” University of Georgia meteorology professor Marshall Shepherd said. “We’ve just never seen anything like this. This is just a strange bird.”

The Duke Energy company estimated that between 1 million and 3 million homes could be without power in the wake of the hurricane.

Hurricane Florence hits the US East Coast Show all 20 1 /20 Hurricane Florence hits the US East Coast Hurricane Florence hits the US East Coast Barmen protect their business from the storm and the opportunists Getty Hurricane Florence hits the US East Coast Many supplies have run out as Hurricane Florence approaches in Nichols, South Carolina AP Hurricane Florence hits the US East Coast Hurricane Florence seen from space on September 12 AP Hurricane Florence hits the US East Coast Students of East Carolina University's Coastal Storms class use anemometers to measure wind speeds at Union Point Park in New Bern, North Carolina AP Hurricane Florence hits the US East Coast Rescue workers are on the scene in James City, North Carolina Getty Hurricane Florence hits the US East Coast Sixteen hours before Florence even hits land, the Neuse River bursts its banks and floods New Bern, North Carolina Alamy Hurricane Florence hits the US East Coast Volunteer rescue workers help three children out of their flooded home in James City, North Carolina Getty Hurricane Florence hits the US East Coast A boardwalk is damaged in Atlantic Beach on North Carolina's coast Getty Hurricane Florence hits the US East Coast Union Point Park in New Bern is closed Reuters Hurricane Florence hits the US East Coast A child sits in Conway High School, which is being used as an evacuation centre in South Carolina AFP/Getty Hurricane Florence hits the US East Coast Locals voice their disapproval of the storm in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina Getty Hurricane Florence hits the US East Coast Volunteer rescue workers help children from their flooded home in James City Getty Hurricane Florence hits the US East Coast A man floats down his street in a metal tub after the Neuse River burst its banks in New Bern, North Carolina Getty Hurricane Florence hits the US East Coast Electric lines are affected in Wilmington, North Carolina Alamy Hurricane Florence hits the US East Coast Floods in New Bern, North Carolina as Florence approaches Alamy Hurricane Florence hits the US East Coast Waves crash over a pier on Atlantic Beach in North Carolina as Hurricane Florence approaches AP Hurricane Florence hits the US East Coast Hurricane Florence is seen from the International Space Station as it churns in the Atlantic Ocean towards the east coast of the US NASA/Reuters Hurricane Florence hits the US East Coast This NOAA/RAMMB satellite image taken on September 10, 2018, shows Hurricane Florence off the US' east coast in the Atantic Ocean AFP/Getty Hurricane Florence hits the US East Coast In this NOAA satellite handout image, Hurricane Florence is shown travelling west and gaining strength in the Atlantic Ocean southeast of Bermuda on September 10, 2018 Getty Hurricane Florence hits the US East Coast Firefighters rescue people by boat in New Bern, North Carolina Getty

Donald Trump issued a stark warning on Twitter on Wednesday, telling Americans to evacuate and not to “play games with” Florence. “It’s a big one, maybe as big as they’ve seen, and tremendous amounts of water,” he added in a video posted to Twitter.

He claimed federal authorities were “fully prepared” for the hurricane, saying: “The storm will come, it will go, we want everybody to be safe. We’re fully prepared, food, medical, everything you can imagine, we are ready.

“But despite that, bad things can happen when you’re talking about a storm this size. It’s called Mother Nature, you never know. But we know, we love you all, we want you safe, get out of the storm’s way, listen to your local representatives.”

It came just days after an official report criticised the US government’s handling of the response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, the US territory where some 3,000 people were killed last autumn.