NATION : Hurricane Heads for N. Carolina

Hurricane Lili bore down on North Carolina’s Outer Banks with gale-force winds early today, while remnants of Tropical Storm Marco moved in from Florida in a squeeze play that unloaded heavy rain on the South.

A hurricane warning was posted for parts of the North Carolina and Virginia coasts, where seas swelled in some areas to eight feet and some residents and tourists began to flee. Farther south, officials declared an emergency in Augusta, Ga., where floodwaters closed roads and engulfed houses.

“All of our roads are flooded,” said Pam Smith, director of the Emergency Management Agency in Augusta. “People are trapped in their homes. People are hollering out for help through their windows. Some are on the rooftops. There are people in their cars floating down the road.”