-WEATHER UPDATE
You could walk faster than Tropical Storm Florence…backwards. The storm, at 5 p.m., is moving west at 2 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. Now located 60 miles west of Myrtle Beach, Florence has maximum sustained winds of 45 mph. With the 5 p.m. advisory all storm surge warnings have been discontinued.
The biggest threat now for Hoke County is continued rain. Weather Underground predicts roughly 3-4 inches of rain tonight and another 3.5 tomorrow, with rain gradually tapering off Monday. We observed near-flooding already in South Hoke. When, you want to know, will things get cooler and drier? Thursday, with the arrival of a cold front.
So far the worst rain accumulation from this storm is eastern N.C. at Swan Quarter, where 30 inches has been recorded. "That rainfall total breaks the tropical cyclone
rainfall record of 24.06 inches for North Carolina set during Hurricane Floyd in 1999," says the Nat. Hurricane Center.
Meanwhile the Nat. Weather Service in Wilmington is predicting 12-18 more inches of rain in a swatch from Wilmington to Southport up to Elizabethtown and into Robeson County, and says it may rival Matthew and Floyd damage.
Attached is 5 p.m. radar image.
-MCLAUCHLIN LAKES DAM/ROCKFISH ROAD
Rockfish Road near McLauchlin Lakes is now closed until further notice due to threat of flooding. There is a voluntary evacuation in place for people in the Country Walk subdivision (Carriage Lane, Early Morning Drive, Whitechapel Lane, Stones Throw Lane). As of this afternoon firefighters and other emergency response personnel were going door to door to warn residents in that neighborhood. If you need help evacuating or information on shelters, call (910) 848-4646 or visit www.readyhoke.org.
-POWER OUTAGES:
There are still over 14,000 people in Hoke County without power now, including about 11,000 LREMC customers and 3,000 Duke Energy customers. Some have been without power for over a day now. Given the ongoing wind and rain, it may be several days before power is fully restored, but works crews are assessing damage.
A reminder from county officials: do not call 911 if your power goes out. Call your power company to report the outage. 911 cannot get your power back on.
Duke Energy: 800-419-6356 | Lumbee River EMC: 800-683-5571
-TRAVEL/CURFEW
While most roads are still open, debris is widespread and conditions may worsen due to continued rainfall. Officials urge residents to stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary. There is a curfew in effect from 7 pm-7 am each night for the county until the state of emergency is lifted.
If driving, many traffic lights are out. Traffic lights that are out should be treated as a four-way stop sign intersection.
-CLOSURES:
Most stores, businesses, and offices in Hoke County are shut down today. There is debris on some roadways, there are traffic lights out in various areas, and driving should be considered hazardous at this point.
-EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER:
For help with storm related questions or other information, call the automated information line at (910) 848-4645 or to speak with a staff member, call (910) 848-4646.
Hoke County Emergency Management Director Bryan Marley warned citizens that during the storm, the emergency operations center (EOC) team will do their best to help people with questions but that they expect a high call volume.
-SHELTERS OPEN:
Shelters are open, see www.readyhoke.org/shelters for details. The shelter at Hoke High closed today and people there were taken to other shelters.
-OTHER FLOODING
Hoke County Emergency Management is monitoring waterways like the Lumber River and Rockfish Creek to keep an eye out for flooding. With more rain predicted today and tomorrow, conditions could worsen and flooding is the main concern now.
"We're anticipating some possible flooding along the Lumber River, that's about where we're at right now," – Marley
There is a VOLUNTARY EVACUATION in effect for people who live near the Lumber River. If you are not sure if you are in a flood zone for the Lumber River (map of the river here: http://www.ci.lumberton.nc.us/imag…/river/lumberrivermap.pdf) call the EOC at 848-4646 with your address and speak to them for assistance.
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