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Hurricane baby born after parents flee North Carolina

Posted at 4:01 PM, Sep 15, 2018
and last updated 2018-09-15 18:01:46-04

As North Carolinians were preparing for the arrival of Hurricane Florence earlier this week, Rachel and Levi English were anticipating another arrival. They were expecting a baby girl.

The couple were evacuated from their home in New Bern, North Carolina, on Tuesday, according to CNN affiliate KYW, the day before English’s due date.

“It was really scary knowing we were expecting a baby really any minute and potentially unable to get to the hospital or left without electricity for days and days with a newborn,” English told KYW.

The couple drove eight hours to Haverford, Pennsylvania, where her family lives.

Not long after they arrived the contractions began, so they went to Lankenau Medical Center in Wynnewood — the same hospital where English was born 29 years ago, KYW reported.

“It’s really exciting to be back here at Lankenau, since I was born here,” she said. “Definitely a quick change of plans.”

Friday morning, while Florence was battering the Carolina coasts and New Bern was inundated with floodwater, Rachel and Levi English welcomed their little girl, Matilda, into the world.

“Definitely a story to tell her when she grows up,” English told KYW. “We were trying to think of with the nurses if there was a fun hurricane nickname we could give her. We haven’t come up with one yet.”