As Hurricane Matthew approached, many Wilmington residents decided to move to higher ground and head inland. Those who decided to stay are now in the beginning stages of what is sure to be a very wet weekend. The following is the most up to date information we have on Wilmington and surrounding areas.

Earlier this week, UNC Wilmington made the decision to have on-campus students evacuate by noon on Thursday, Oct. 6. Campus will not re-open on Monday or Tuesday for regularly scheduled classes.

Duke Energy’s outage map is currently reporting roughly 8,707 residents in the Wilmington area are without power. Another 2,355 on Pleasure Island and roughly 200 in the Wrightsville Beach area are without power as well.

The latest estimated restoration update stated, “assessing damage,” so it is currently undetermined when residents will be getting power back at this time.

According to the town’s website, Carolina Beach has issued a mandatory evacuation for all non-residents and visitors. A voluntary evacuation is advised for all residents currently residing in low-lying areas, specifically those on the north end and near Carolina Beach Lake.

Both locations are known for heavy amounts of flooding.

Snow’s Cut Bridge closed at 2:30 p.m. and will remain closed unless winds get below 45 mph. Residents who have a Pleasure Island resident sticker on their cars should be able to access the island unless stated otherwise at the bridge by those patrolling it.

These stickers should have been acquired in advance and are not available during the Hurricane.

Wrightsville Beach is currently under a voluntary evacuation due to Hurricane Matthew, which was issued noon on Friday, Oct. 7.

Commercial trash services are cancelled and Wrightsville Beach public bathrooms will remain closed until otherwise stated. The town is urging citizens to remain off the beach and out of dangerous ocean waters. Surfing is not advised.

Kure Beach and Fort Fisher are doing well but have experienced some power fluctuation issues. The town also issued a voluntary evacuation for residents and a mandatory evacuation for visitors.

According to the Assistant Fire Chief Ed Kennedy, the conditions are currently “a little windy with bad flooding on the south end.”

Despite loss of power in some areas, police, fire, building inspections and public works will continue to respond to issues throughout the town as long as it is safe to do so. Public works continue to work to keep water drains clear and are monitoring problem areas.

Those without power are expected to be without it until the storm has passed the area and are urged to remain attentive when using candles or any cooking utilities such as propane and charcoal grills.

According to the U.S. National Weather Service for Wilmington, the water level at the downtown Wilmington tide gauge has officially broken the previous record set by Hurricane Hazel in 1954.

“The current level at 3:54 p.m. is 8.21 ft (and still rising),” according to the service’s Facebook page. The water level during Hazel was a comparative 8.15 feet.

Wilmington has also received flash flood warnings off and on throughout the day, the first of which came through at 7:31 a.m. and the last of which was received at 4:15 p.m.

According to the most recent notification, the warnings are in effect until 10 p.m. this evening. A tornado warning also came in early this morning but ended at 7 a.m.

High surf, dangerous ocean conditions and extremely strong rip currents are expected into next week on all beaches.

Residents and visitors would best benefit from avoiding the ocean during the storm and waiting to visit the beach until it passes. Lifeguards will not be on duty in any of these locations.

“Torrential rainfall is spread across the area and will continue through the rest of today as life threatening flash flooding is likely,” according to the NWS, “Expect sustained winds of 30-40 MPH inland with gusts up to 55 MPH. Along the immediate coast, sustained winds of 40-60 MPH are expected with gusts up to 70 MPH.” 

The strongest winds are expected to occur late afternoon and well into the evening. A significant amount of overwash and erosion will continue to impact all beaches and storm surge inundation has the potential to reach several feet above ground level along the coast and in tidal creeks.

Although the smaller towns of Carolina and Kure Beach ask that you please call 911 to report the following issues, residents of Wilmington should be reminded not to call 911 to report fallen trees, power lines or flooding.

To find the correct numbers to call if you are located within Wilmington city limits please visit www.wilmingtonnc.gov.

Roads that are currently closed in the Wilmington area are as follows:

• Forest Hills at Metts Avenue in both directions (300 Black Forest Hills Dr.)
• Princess Place Drive in both directions (16^th to 21^st)
• N Lumina Avenue from Stone Street to Atlanta Street

Lane(s) Closed:

• 300 N 18^th St.
• 5^th Avenue & Hanover Street
• 3500 Oleander Dr. & Independence 
• 5^th Avenue & Dawson Street
• Indian Wells Way & Gordon Road
• Myrtle Grove Road & E Seaview Road

High Water

• Reynolds & Cahill Drive
• Water Street
• 300 Block S College Rd.
• Hamilton & Hurst Drive
• River Road & The Cape Boulevard 
• Bald Eagle Lane & Porters Neck Road
• 1600 US Hwy 421 N & Parsley Street
• Greenville Loop Road
• Intersection of Biscayne and Aqurious
• N Kerr Avenue between Control Tower Drive & Grathwol Drive

Some shelters open in the New Hanover area are:

• Codington Elementary, 4321 Carolina Beach Rd.
• Dorothy B. Johnson Pre-K Center, 1100 McRae St., Wilmington
• Trask Middle School, 2900 N. College Rd., Wilmington (pet friendly)
• Pets may also be taken to New Hanover County Animal Services Unit, 180 Division Dr., Wilmington