This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The death toll from Hurricane Florence had increased to 32 people on Tuesday morning, as officials rushed to get relief to a North Carolina city still largely marooned from the rest of the state by flood water.

The storm has claimed lives in three states, including 25 in North Carolina, according to a count by the Associated Press.

Wilmington: power outages and rising temperatures strain slow recovery Read more

The victims include a one-year-old boy who was swept away after his mother drove into floodwaters and lost her grip on him while trying to get back to dry land in North Carolina.

Another man’s body was found in floodwaters next to his car in Union county, WSOC reported.

While rain was finally subsiding on Tuesday, the city of Wilmington remained largely cut off with thousands of people stranded.

Officials were preparing to distribute food, water and tarpaulins in the city of 120,000, as more people were rescued from flooded neighborhoods.

Play Video 0:46 'One of the wettest we've ever seen, from the standpoint of water': Trump on Florence – video

One road was opened into Wilmington briefly, and helicopters and military trucks were bringing relief supplies into the stranded city, where hundreds of people have been rescued from the roofs of flooded homes.

On Tuesday morning, more than 320,000 homes remained without power across North Carolina.

Fatalities from the storm include people who drowned, were electrocuted, or were hit by trees, according to the Charlotte Observer. One person was killed in Virginia by an apparent tornado whipped up by Florence, and six were killed in South Carolina.

Rescuers have saved about 700 people in New Hanover county, where Wilmington is located, and 2,600 people across the state.

Wilmington’s mayor, Bill Saffo, said he was working with the governor’s office to get more fuel into the city.

“At this time, things are moving as well as can be in the city,” he said. Downed trees and power lines still blocked many roads into the city.

North Carolina’s governor, Roy Cooper, warned that floodwaters would linger for days, and urged residents in the path of the hurricane who had evacuated not to return yet.

“There’s too much going on,” he said.

At the White House, Donald Trump said almost 20,000 military personnel and federal workers were deployed to help with the aftermath.

“We will do whatever it takes to keep the American people safe,” the president said.

In North Carolina, it's the poorest who bear the brunt of flooding Read more

Florence dumped close to 36 inches of rain, according to totals measured in Elizabethtown, North Carolina.

Long lines formed at gas stations to get fuel for cars as well as generators at homes where the main electricity supply was knocked out.

Four dams have been breached in North and South Carolina, CNN reported on Tuesday, as rivers continued to rise.