Although Hurricane Florence has not yet made landfall, the storm is already pounding North Carolina’s coast with devastating winds and rain. The hurricane has slowed and should make landfall near Wilmington around 8 a.m., with most of the state feeling its effects throughout the weekend.
Raleigh, N. C. — Although Hurricane Florence has not yet made landfall, the storm is already pounding North Carolina’s coast with devastating winds and rain. The hurricane has slowed and should make landfall near Wilmington around 8 a.m., with most of the state feeling its effects throughout the weekend.
3:57 a.m.: Officials said there is structural damage to buildings in Onslow County and water is rising and power outages are increasing in Kinston.
3:39 a.m.: Winds were beginning to pick up in Wake County and some power outages have been reported in Cary, but crews were responding to reports quickly.
3:33 a.m.: The number of power outages reported across the state has actually decreased, with state officials saying 180,096 customers are without power. That number is about 5,000 less than what was reported by state officials an hour ago.
3:32 a.m.: A tornado warning has been canceled for Nash and Halifax counties.
3:39 a.m.: A small tree was downed on Murchison Road in Fayetteville as wind gusts began increasing to about 50 mph.
3:24 a.m.: Colleen Roberts, a spokesperson for the City of New Bern, said that 200 people have been rescued and another 150 are awaiting rescue.
Most rescues have been of people inside their homes and many shelters in the area are nearing capacity.
“It is a challenging situation right now, but we want residents to know that we will come get you,” Roberts said. “These are folks that, for whatever reason, decided to stay and wait out the storm instead of going inland.”
Roberts said officials in the city measured a storm surge of 10 feet at 2 p.m. Thursday and that has continued to increase as Florence moved closer to the coast.
“New Bern is situated on two rivers. Those rivers have risen very quickly in this storm,” she said.
3:22 a.m.: The tornado warning has been canceled for portions of Halifax County
3:16 a.m.: A tornado warning for Halifax County has been extended until 3:45 a.m and a tornado warning has been issued for Nash County until 3:45 a.m.
3:10 a.m.: A flood warning has been issued for Harnett County from 6:30 a.m. Sunday to 5:30 a.m. Wednesday and for Cumberland County until further notice.
3:07 a.m.: WRAL meteorologist Mike Moss said there have been no reports of a tornado touching down and tornado warnings are commonly associated with an approaching hurricane.
3:04 a.m.: A tornado warning has been issued for Franklin, Warren and Halifax counties until 3:30 a.m.
3:02 a.m.: WRAL meteorologist Mike Moss said Florence is continuing to move at a slow pace and may or not have made landfall by the estimated 8 a.m. arrival.
Some spots inland were beginning to feel the storm’s impacts with wind gusts of 51 mph recorded in Fayetteville.
2:55 a.m.: A tweet from the City of New Bern said that about 150 people are awaiting rescue in the city. Two out-of-state FEMA teams are assisting with swift water rescues and more are on the way, officials tweeted.
“We are coming to get you. You may need to move up to the second story or to your attic, but we are coming to get you,” officials said.
2:53 a.m.: Florence was continuing to move toward the coast at 6 mph and the Category 1 storm has sustained winds of 90 mph.
“This thing could be with us with these bands of rain moving through from time to time through Saturday and maybe even to Sunday,” WRAL meteorologist Mike Moss said.
2:46 a.m.: Fayetteville officials say the biggest concern with Hurricane Florence is its slow speed, which could dump more than a foot of rain and cause water to back up in the Cape Fear River.
2:42 a.m.: Winds were beginning to pick up in Fayetteville as Hurricane Florence approached land, but heavy rain had not yet started.
2:40 a.m.: State officials said that 185,312 customers are currently without power as a result of Hurricane Florence.
2:33 a.m.: WRAL meteorologist Mike Moss said the large wind field associated with Hurricane Florence is causing rivers, like the Neuse, to back up.
The storm currently has maximum sustained winds of 90 mph and is moving at 6 mph
“It’s going to be a long process to get that to move in,” Moss said.
2:26 a.m.: New Bern Mayor Dana Outlaw said several rescues have been made as streets around the city experienced severe flooding.
“We can not put our first responders in harms way,” Mayor Dana Outlaw said.
Outlaw said he was personally involved with transporting people to shelters Thursday, but did not assist in any water rescues.
“We’re going to assess the situation. We’re going to get our town back to what it was,” Outlaw said.
The City of New Bern remains under curfew from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. until further notice.
2:15 a.m.: Hurricane Florence is still about 45 miles off the coast of WIlmington and is expected to make landfall Friday morning.
1:16 a.m.: North Carolina officials are reporting that 169,411 customers are currently without power across North Carolina with the majority of outages reported in the eastern part of the state.
1:08 a.m.: WRAL Chief Meteorologist Greg Fishel said the Neuse River is reporting 10.1 feet of inundation as a result of Florence, which is still moving northwest at about 6 mph.
The storm, which currently has sustained winds of 85 mph, is expected to make landfall sometime between 6 a.m. and noon Friday.
The storm is expected to weaken into a tropical storm by Friday evening, Fishel said, and will have minimal impacts in the Triangle, but could have devastating impacts toward the southern part of the state, including Cumberland County.
12:45 a.m.: Officials said 55 people have reported to seven emergency shelters in Cumberland County and residents are advised to bring sleeping bags, blankets and cots as some shelters have a limited number of beds.
Swift water rescue teams are ready in Cumberland County to assist with rescues if necessary and the Fayetteville Fire and Emergency Management Department has seven swift water teams on hand.
12:27 a.m.: Florence is 40 miles from Wilmington and 30 miles from Moorehead City and is continuing to move at 6 mph
WRAL meteorologist Mike Maze said it is possible that there could be brief, isolated tornadoes as a result of the storm.
12:13 a.m.: Topsail Beach Town Manager Mike Rose said officials are monitoring the storm surge, which remains the biggest concern as Hurricane Florence prepares to make landfall.
“We’re certainly concerned about the rain and the flooding that will come but, right now, our biggest concern is the storm surge itself,” Rose said.
Rose said emergency services have been suspended until conditions on the island improve, but officials are working with multiple agencies to return to the island when conditions allow.
“We feel confident we’ll be in good shape,” Rose said.
Rose said that there are only 400 residents who live on Topsail Beach year round and they were able to evacuate in advance of the storm.
“We’re fortunate that this has come at a time where most of the tourism has gone,” he said.
12:06 a.m.: Wilmington is experiencing periods of severe weather followed by periods of calm as rain bands associated with Florence move through. Although weather is currently calm, the storm caused transformers to blow and telephone poles to sway in the wind earlier in the night.
12:04 a.m.: WRAL meteorologist Mike Maze said that Florence is continuing to move northwest at 6 mph is expected to make landfall at about 8 a.m.
12:01 a.m.: Camp Jejeune has been experiencing widespread power outages across the base for several hours as a result of Hurricane Florence. A spokesman said there are several buildings that have been operating on generator power, but the base is largely in the dark.
11:39 p.m.: A 10 foot storm surge has been reported in Moorehead City.
The center of the storm is currently located less than 50 miles from Wilmington and 118 miles from Fayetteville.
11:09 p.m.: North Carolina Emergency Management said 156,068 customers are without power in the state as a result of Hurricane Florence. The highest number of outages have been reported in Beaufort, Carteret, Craven, Onslow, Pamlico and Pender counties.
11:04 p.m.: Although Florence will now make landfall as a Category 1 hurricane, the storm still has the potential to bring substantial rain and dangerous flooding to the state.
WRAL Chief Meteorologist Greg Fishel said that the worst case scenario models show Wake, Durham and Orange counties getting 5-10 inches of rain while counties to the south could get 10 to 15 inches. Counties in the far south, including Cumberland County, could see as much as 20 inches of rain through Sunday.
11:02 p.m.: Officials said more than 136,000 people are without power in North Carolina, largely in the eastern part of the state.
11 p.m.: The 11 p.m. update from the National Hurricane Center show that Hurricane Florence is weakening.
The storm, which has sustained winds of 90 mph and is moving northwest at 6 mph, will not make landfall Friday morning as a Category 1 storm.
“Hopefully that will continue to be a trend,” WRAL meteorologist Mike Maze said of the storms weakening wind speeds and increasing speed, which both bode well for North Carolina.
The storm is 60 miles from Wilmington.
10:53 p.m.: Flood water was rushing into the Craven County Emergency Services building Thursday night as areas around the county experienced severe flooding. Officials said there was a drain pressure that caused water to enter the building, but nobody inside was injured.
10:52 p.m.: Shelters were open and about 100 people had registered to stay at Northwood High School and Chatham Middle School in Chatham County.
10:11 p.m.: Stephen Rea, with Carteret County Emergency Management said he is hearing reports of damage throughout the whole county.
10:05 p.m.: Florence is located about 70 miles southeast of Wilmington and continues to have sustained winds of 100 mph.
The hurricane is expected to make landfall sometime between 6 a.m. and noon Friday.
9:51 p.m.: Portions of Atlantic Beach have already reported more than a foot of rain and Cherry Branch in Craven County has reported a storm surge of more than 10 feet, WRAL Chief Meteorologist Greg Fishel said.
9:42 p.m.: Nags Head is experiencing a calm in the storm, with rain stopping for more than an hour and counting. WRAL meteorologist Mike Maze said the worst of the storm may be over in that part of the Outer Banks.
9:20 p.m.: North Carolina Emergency Management said 102,308 customers were without power as of 9 p.m. Thursday as a result of Hurricane Florence. The counties with the most outages reported are Beaufort, Carteret, Craven, Onslow and Pamlico.
9:06 p.m.: Hyde County officials have issued a curfew, effective from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. until further notice.
9:02 p.m.: Cape Lookout National Seashore has reported sustained winds of 83 mph with gusts of 106 mph while Fort Macon State Park has reported sustained winds of 70 mph with gusts of 105.
In Oriental, the water height in the Neuse River was recorded at 5.5 feet above normal, according to WRAL Chief Meteorologist Greg Fishel.
Florence continues to move towards the North Carolina coast at 5 mph with winds of 100 mph, but any changes to the storm’s path won’t be known until the National Hurricane Centers issues the next advisory at 11 p.m.
8:54 p.m.: The Hope Mills Dam, which has been prone to flooding in the past, appeared to be holding up as the storm moves in.
8:50 p.m.: Colleen Roberts, a public information officer with the City of New Bern, said the storm has taken an “chaotic turn” in the city.
Roberts said officials said the storm surge was already estimated at about 7.5 feet and is expected to grow as the storm makes landfall.
Much of downtown New Bern was underwater by Thursday night and Roberts said several families had to be reduced from their homes.
“If you need emergency rescue, of course we were going to come out and get you, but this is one of the reasons Craven County issued an emergency evacuation,” she said.
Roberts said that emergency services were suspended just before 8 p.m. because conditions were becoming unsafe for first responders.
8:45 p.m.: The tornado warning has been canceled for Wilson County.
8:40 p.m.: WRAL meteorologist Mike Maze said that there will likely be more tornado warnings issued Friday, but no tornado has touched down amid the warning in Wilson County.
8:38 p.m.: WRAL meteorologist Mike Maze said tornado warnings are not uncommon when an hurricane makes landfall or approaches land. A tornado warning was issued earlier Thursday for Carteret County.
8:36 p.m.: The tornado warning remains in effect for Wilson County until about 9 p.m. The storm is located 7 miles away from Wilson and Farmville and is moving southwest at 35 mph.
8:34 p.m.: A tornado warning has been issued for Wilson County
8:31 p.m.:Gov. Roy Cooper said officials are working to set up more shelters as they anticipate more evacuations will be necessary once rivers rise and flooding sets in.
“I believe we have a great team in place, swift water rescue teams ready, lots of supplies ready to go to these shelters,” Cooper said. “I ask people to hunker down, stay off roads. We can get through this, have to endure a tough couple of days.”
8:12 p.m.: Although Hurricane Florence continues to get closer to the coast, several coastal areas including Wilmington and Nags Head were experiencing lulls in rainfall as rain bands moved through.
8:09 p.m.: Hurricane Florence remains 85 miles off the coast near Wilmington, but with storm surges of 6 feet already being reported, WRAL meteorologist Mike Maze said there is potential for the storm surge to exceed to 7 to 11 foot estimate once the hurricane makes landfall.
Florence is still expected to make landfall Friday morning, but Maze said the slow-moving storm could reach land later than originally anticipated.
“The way it’s moving now, it may not get there until late in the morning,” he said.
8:02 p.m.: A curfew will be in place for all Spring Lake residents from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. as Hurricane Florence approaches, according to Mayor Larry Dobbins.
7:43 p.m.: WRAL meteorologist Kat Campbell, who used to work at WCTI, said the area is very prone to flooding and floods are currently impacting much of New Bern.
Campbell said that the flooding the area was experiencing Thursday night was already exceeding what they saw during Hurricane Matthew in 2016.
All employees, with the exception of two meteorologists, have left the WCTI news station because of the floods.
“Everyone was asked to leave immediately, we have stayed here to keep everyone up to date,” one of the meteorologists said during a live news broadcast. “We have a situation that has developed here at the station. We have water close to the building. The building has been evacuated.”
7:31: Hurricane Florence is now 85 miles southeast of Wilmington.
As the storm approaches, more than 88,000 people in North Carolina are without power with the highest number of outages reported in Beaufort, Carteret, Craven, New Hanover, Onslow and Pamlico counties.
7:29 p.m.: Employees at WCTI, an ABC-affiliated news station in New Bern, were evacuating Thursday night as flooding became an issue throughout the area.
A spokesperson for the station said that roads around the building were beginning to flood and a skeleton crew would remain in place to provide news coverage of the storm to residents.
7:24 p.m.: As weather conditions worsen, Carteret County Emergency Services have been suspended until wind speeds once again reach a save level.
7:11 p.m. In New Bern, flood waters were already starting to overtake vehicles, submerging them in water in parking lots.
7:09 p.m.: WRAL meteorologist Mike Maze said Hurricane Florence won’t move out of the United States until Tuesday.
