The Carolinas braced for a storm that forecasters warned could bring heavy rain — as much as 6 to 8 inches in some spots.

Officials say a ferocious tornado struck shortly before midnight Monday just inland from the barrier island of Ocean Isle Beach. Roy Cooper said Wednesday that the state must learn from the surprise tornado that struck Ocean Isle Beach with little or no warning, leaving three people dead and 10 injured. The governor surveyed the brunt of the damage, at Ocean Ridge Plantation, a neighborhood where residents recounted near-death experiences from the powerful EF3 tornado that approached swiftly. Some said they received a warning alert on their phone two minutes after the tornado had already passed. AdBefore the tornado hit his Ocean Ridge Storage Solutions business about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the Ocean Ridge Plantation, he said he was already struggling financially from the governor's pandemic-related business restrictions.

Chapman said she has been without power for two nights and is using the propane to keep warm. The worst U.S. power outages were in Texas, affecting more than 2 million homes and businesses. Texas officials said more than 400,000 doses due now will not arrive until at least Wednesday because of the storm. Several cities had record lows: In Minnesota, the Hibbing/Chisholm weather station registered minus 38 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 39 degrees Celsius). Sioux Falls, South Dakota, dropped to minus 26 Fahrenheit (minus 26 degrees Celsius).

North Carolina authorities say multiple people are dead and others were injured after a tornado ripped through Brunswick County, leaving a trail of heavy destruction. (Emily Flax/Brunswick County Sheriffs Office via AP)WILMINGTON, N.C. – It was late Monday night when the power went out at Jesse Clemmons' home in coastal North Carolina. The twister tore through the Ocean Ridge Plantation, a complex of expensive residences clustered around a golf course, collapsing some homes and damaging dozens of others. It also damaged homes in more modest neighborhoods on a highway that unspools along several North Carolina beaches. ___ Drew reported from Durham, North Carolina.

A man accused of sexual battery on a girl who was older than 12, but still a minor at the time of the alleged incidents, is under investigation by deputies in Nassau County and Brunswick County, North Carolina. Brynen Andrew Lafayette, 24, was booked Monday into the Nassau County jail on a charge of aggravated sexual battery on a child older 12. The victim told deputies about two alleged incidents during summer 2017. The report stated Lafayette was 22 when the alleged victim stayed at his home on Tomlinson Road. A Nassau County judge set Lafayettes bond at $75,000.