47.9 F
Wrightsville Beach
Friday, March 29, 2024

BREAKING: Voluntary evacuation for county beaches, hurricane warning in effect, flood warning for low-lying area

Must read

Emergency management officials tracking Hurricane Matthew are raising the threat warnings for the area after the projected path of the storm shifted closer to the Wilmington area this morning. New Hanover County emergency management officials said Friday afternoon that the county’s beach areas were under a voluntary evacuation and that low-lying areas in the county prone to flooding would likely see flash floods this weekend. At 11 a.m., the county was put on a hurricane warning, meaning hurricane conditions were expected within 24 hours.

Wrightsville Beach spokeswoman Katie Ryan said at noon today that at this point, there was no plan to call for mandatory evacuations of the island, and Warren Lee,  New Hanover County emergency management director, said that while mandatory evacuations for the county weren’t anticipated, evacuations for the beaches would only come after further changes in the hurricane’s path and deliberations with local and state officials. The next update from the National Hurricane Center was at 2 p.m. on Friday, Lee said.

“This is a significant event for us,” Lee said at a Friday press conference, noting that flooding and power outages from storm debris were the biggest threats. “If you are in an area that has seen flooding in the past, you will likely see flooding from this storm.”

On Thursday, the hurricane’s track put the eye of the storm about 100 miles off the Cape Fear coast. A National Weather Service briefing at 8:30 a.m. Friday morning put the storm’s eye at only 50 miles from shore, and an update at 11 a.m. put the storm’s center at only about 25 miles from area shorelines.

With heightened flooding concerns, Wrightsville Beach said it would give sand to residents and businesses free of charge at the old fire station on Seawater Lane next to Town Hall. Residents will need to supply their own bags.

Other notes from the approaching storm include:

  • 10-15 inches of rain forecast throughout the weekend.
  • Rain and winds will pick up on Saturday, with heavy rains starting in the morning and peaking on Saturday evening.
  • County and Wilmington offices would close at 3 p.m. Friday; will not reopen until conditions allow.
  • The North Carolina Highway Patrol urges people who need travel to do so on Friday before flooding conditions on Saturday.
  • Wrightsville Beach will stop selling tax decals and distributing hurricane re-entry passes at 5 p.m. today.

More information from the county is available at this site: http://emergencynhc.com/?_ga=1.93017757.1455663376.1444054983

Other important numbers include:

Emergency: 9-1-1

Public Information

(910) 798-6800

 

Duke Energy

(800) 419-6356

CFPUA Water/Sewer Emergencies

(910) 332-6565

UNCW Emergency Info

(910) 962-3991

(888) 657-5751

CFCC Emergency Info

(877) 799-2322

- Advertisement -spot_img

More articles

- Advertisement -spot_img

Latest articles