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Friday, March 29, 2024

Wrightsville Beach police want stricter visitor restrictions after Hurricane Matthew response

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After Carolina Beach and Kure Beach closed its town to visitors during Hurricane Matthew’s passing, Wrightsville Beach became the spot for curiosity seekers to watch the storm, and police chief Dan House said Thursday that town officials would consider changing storm preparation policy to close the beach earlier.

Police had to clear areas around Crystal and Johnnie Mercer’s piers on several occasions, House said during his quarterly Chat with the Chief, and some motorists drove too fast on the central business district streets that experienced temporary flooding. To cut down on the sightseers during a major storm, House said he was asking the town to consider new procedures for the next storm that could see the beach closed to visitors.

“We put up so many layers of tape, but they still kept going around it,” House said of the scene at Crystal Pier. “I had to go out there myself at one point.”

During Hurricane Matthew daytime approach on Saturday, Oct. 8, the Snows Cut Bridge was closed and the towns of Carolina Beach and Kure Beach issued a mandatory evacuation for all non-residents. The results of the closures left Wrightsville Beach the only place for locals who wanted to see the turbulent ocean and feel the winds, House said, creating a dangerous situation.

“With the storm surge, people under Johnnie Mercer’s Pier could have been swept away without expecting it,” House said.

House said he proposed the changes to the town manager, who will put it before the Board of Aldermen as part of the town’s overall storm preparation plan.

House said the town would have to determine a point where the beach would be closed to outside visitors, which could be when the mayor declares a state of emergency. During Matthew, all New Hanover County municipal governments declared a state of emergency at noon on Friday, a day before the storm made its landfall.

Residents’ vehicles would be verified with the annual tax sticker they are required to maintain. Wrightsville Beach was under a voluntary evacuation when Hurricane Matthew made landfall in North Carolina.

While other parts of the state were impacted by the storm’s rainfall, Wrightsville Beach suffered relatively little damage from Hurricane Matthew. House said the town was prepared, including setting up an emergency medical facility at the fire station. By the time it made landfall, the storm’s winds were more in line with a tropical storm, and the area didn’t see the rains that areas to the east endured. Overall, the storm served as a good training drill for town officials, he said.

House also said he worried that residents would become too complacent for future storms due to the the relatively positive outcome.

“It wasn’t really a hurricane for us, more of a tropical storm or depression,” House said. “Residents shouldn’t make decisions on future hurricanes based on this one.”

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