With a day full of heavy rainfall and minor coastal flooding, both Wrightsville Beach and New Hanover County declared states of emergency effective at 6 p.m.
Wrightsville Beach Town Manager Tim Owens said that staff was prepared for the weather, which included taking some barrels off of the beach today. Town staff will monitor the lifeguard stands, which have been threatened by the rising tides. The National Weather Service Wilmington said tides were a full foot above average today.
The NWS also said that the Wilmington area has already gotten nearly 3.5 inches of rain today, beating the old record of 2.1 inches set in 1891.
Owens said one of the primary concern for town officials was to monitor the water system.
“We have to keep up with the rain water in the sewer system,” Owens said. ‘The groundwater is so saturated and the tides are so high, in some places, there is standing water over manholes.”
Owens said public works staff was rerouting the water flow to keep up with the rain. Additionally, the influx of rainwater will give officials the opportunity to use the town’s new SCADA system, which provides more reliable data and gives operators better, more reliable control over how the pumps operate.
