Neuse River crests in Kinston, flooding could last days

The Neuse River crested on Saturday morning, leaving most of the hard-hit town of Kinston completely submerged.

The river in Lenoir County crested about a foot above the old record set by Hurricane Floyd in 1999.

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The river crested at 28.31' - flood stage is at 14'. Businesses and homes in the flood zone were urged to evacuate.

"Having experienced two floods of the century in less than two decades is pretty phenomenal in and of itself, but actually, because of that, 90 percent of the residential areas that would be impacted today, they've already been moved out because FEMA bought those houses years ago," said Kinston Mayor B.J. Murphy.