Trump approves North Carolina disaster declaration for Florence

President Trump has approved a disaster declaration for North Carolina as the state deals with Tropical Storm Florence, the White House announced Saturday.

Trump ordered federal aid to supplement recovery efforts beginning Sept. 7 in areas affected by Florence, which made landfall early Friday as a Category 1 hurricane, the White House said. Trump issued the order on Friday.

Aid can include grants for housing and home repairs, loans to cover property loss and emergency work.

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Trump had previously declared a state of emergency in North Carolina, as well as South Carolina and Virginia, in anticipation of the storm.

Florence made landfall Friday morning and at least seven people have already died, including a mother and child who died when a tree fell on their house.

The National Weather Service said Saturday that the storm is expected to dump more rain on North Carolina for at least a couple more days. 

It may be hard to believe…but there’s MUCH more rain to come.
Parts of the Carolinas will see more than 15 inches of additional rain in the next couple of days. #Florence pic.twitter.com/vEgFEuTlZF

— NWS (@NWS) September 15, 2018

North Carolina Rep. Walter Jones (R) and others had requested for Trump to declare an expedited emergency declaration via a letter on Monday.