The death toll from Hurricane Florence rose to at least 32 in three states, with 25 fatalities in North Carolina, as remnants of the once-powerful Category 4 hurricane now reduced to a rainy, windy mass of low pressure speeded up towards the Northeast.

With one of North Carolina's largest cities still mostly cut off by floodwaters from Hurricane Florence, officials prepared to begin distributing food, water and tarps to Wilmington residents as yet more people were rescued from submerged inland neighbourhoods.

Workers will hand out supplies to stranded residents in the city of 120,000 people beginning on Tuesday morning, county officials say.

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