Two young people holidaying in the beach town of Oak Island, North Carolina, were swimming in waist-deep water when they lost limbs in separate life-threatening shark attacks.

The mayor of a North Carolina town where two young people were left severely injured by shark attacks has said she does not think emergency workers had enough time between the incidents to close the beaches.

Hurricane Ophelia continued its tortuously slow crawl along North Carolina coastline early today as officials feared serious flooding, but do not expect it to make landfall.

Hurricane Ophelia lashed the North Carolina coast with high winds and heavy rains, beginning an anticipated two-day assault that threatened serious flooding and an 11-foot storm surge.