Florence

[budwom]

a friend just sent me an hour long video (Topsail Island Post Hurricane Florence) of Topsail Island after the storm, evidently taken from a helicopter...some dunes took a beating, house we always rent came thru as it has for about 60 years...but the smaller place next door appears to be hanging out over a badly damaged dune...bring on Round Five or whatever of Beach Nourishment, about which books could be written.
Gotta spend that rental tax money somehow...

[CameronBornAndBred]

Due to some non-storm related health issues, my father-in-law may be transferred to an unnamed hospital 8 miles south of Durham. They live in Stella, NC off Hwy 58. What is the best way to get her up here to the Triangle with a minimum of detours. She does not have a smart phone, and in-car GPS is obviously unreliable.

Any routing advice would be appreciated. We might just have to talk her through it over the phone if she has to come up here.

They will have to backtrack highway 58 to 24, then up to 70 in Newport. From there the road is clear to 17 in New Bern and they can head to 264 in Greenville.

[camion]

I have a cousin with a home in Fayetteville, NC. She left for the mountains (Elkin) before Florence and yesterday she says that friends sent her photos of her home which appears to be okay. She didn't have a clear route back to it though.

I also found the USGS flood event viewer page. If you zoom in (click the "+" scale three times) you can check out the "real-time stream gage" water level changes along the various rivers. The Cape Fear river appears to have peaked near Fayetteville, but is still rising farther downriver near Kelly, NC.

Cape_Fear_river_Fayetteville.jpeg

Cape_Fear_river_Kelly.jpeg

[PackMan97]

Unfortunately, lacking a smart phone this won't help you PackMan, but for anyone else it may be of use. Our daughter and my two sisters all made it to Wilmington or Emerald Isle without much trouble today and yesterday. They used Waze on their phones to navigate.

Well, we can use Waze to get the route and give her turn by turn over her feature phone, so that would work.

They will have to backtrack highway 58 to 24, then up to 70 in Newport. From there the road is clear to 17 in New Bern and they can head to 264 in Greenville.

If 70 is open from Morehead City to Greenville, that would be perfect. Father-in-law is at the hospital in Morehead City anyways, so I know they can get there.

[DU82]

Well, we can use Waze to get the route and give her turn by turn over her feature phone, so that would work.



If 70 is open from Morehead City to Greenville, that would be perfect. Father-in-law is at the hospital in Morehead City anyways, so I know they can get there.

US 70 is shown as open from Morehead City to Raleigh. However, the water is still rising on the Neuse in Kinston, so that could be a problem in the coming days. (Not sure how Greenville feeds into this. However, NC 11 from Kinston to Greenville appears open.) Water on US 17 south of New Bern is going down, so it may open soon if it's not currently passable. The flooding information we have (fiman.nc.gov) still shows it as moderate flooding.

Again with Waze, just because somebody made it through does not mean it's a safe route, nor that it will remain open.

[PackMan97]

US 70 is shown as open from Morehead City to Raleigh. However, the water is still rising on the Neuse in Kinston, so that could be a problem in the coming days. (Not sure how Greenville feeds into this. However, NC 11 from Kinston to Greenville appears open.) Water on US 17 south of New Bern is going down, so it may open soon if it's not currently passable. The flooding information we have (fiman.nc.gov) still shows it as moderate flooding.

Again with Waze, just because somebody made it through does not mean it's a safe route, nor that it will remain open.

Thanks for the tips!

It's a shame they got rid of their old car, it would have no problem with these conditions.

[HereBeforeCoachK]

US 70 is shown as open from Morehead City to Raleigh. However, the water is still rising on the Neuse in Kinston, so that could be a problem in the coming days. (Not sure how Greenville feeds into this. However, NC 11 from Kinston to Greenville appears open.) Water on US 17 south of New Bern is going down, so it may open soon if it's not currently passable. The flooding information we have (fiman.nc.gov) still shows it as moderate flooding.

Again with Waze, just because somebody made it through does not mean it's a safe route, nor that it will remain open.

Google and the other map apps have been timely and reliable in our experience in this storm....going east to west or west to east, I would consult those carefully.

[-jk]

I can't imagine what I-95 is like for interstate traffic. That road is a mess during normal times.

I imagine it's mostly empty - of cars...

-jk

[-jk]

Very cool site with before and after pics to give you a good idea of the trouble:

http://disasterresponse.maps.arcgis...cbf37c6118cf1b

Pic 5 is especially interesting with the guy cruising down the wide open 53!

-jk

[devildeac]

Will report on conditions at Surf City, North Topsail Beach and various roads in eastern NC tomorrow night. I'm riding down in the early AM with one of our co-owners and he *thinks* he has a plan. And an alternate plan. I told him earlier today, as long as it didn't involve the Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force, Marines (their son is a major), the NC Highway Patrol or any local constables, I would make the trip with him.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Will report on conditions at Surf City, North Topsail Beach and various roads in eastern NC tomorrow night. I'm riding down in the early AM with one of our co-owners and he *thinks* he has a plan. And an alternate plan. I told him earlier today, as long as it didn't involve the Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force, Marines (their son is a major), the NC Highway Patrol or any local constables, I would make the trip with him.

Boat home safely!

[devildeac]

Boat home safely!

LOL. Aerial photos are encouraging. It's getting there that I'm worried about.

[OldPhiKap]

LOL. Aerial photos are encouraging. It's getting there that I'm worried about.

1EF25325-2D03-410B-BDEC-11DDC971EAFA.jpg

[DU82]

Did the late shift again tonight. As I was leaving, we heard that NC 24 in Beulaville was opened earlier this evening, providing a reasonable detour around the still flooded I-40 between Burgaw and Wilmington. That route will get you to Jacksonville and then down US 17 (also recently cleared) to Wilmington. We want people to stay off of US 421; both as it’s not clear how long it will stay open with additional flooding from the CapeFear river, and so that emergency vehicles and supplies can go down that route while it’s open.

US 70 in Kingston is likely to flood by Saturday when the Neuse reaches flood stage (again).

Still no info on when I-95 will open. South Carolina opened their section earlier in the day, then the
Pee Dee River flooded and they had to close a section again about 6PM. Travel from Florida to NY is still being detoured throug Columbia, Charlotte and up I-85. Traffic on the detour routes is getting worse.

NC 904 in Brunswick County was open early today, then had about 2feet of water by noon; later the water was almost covering the “welcome to Brunswick County”sign (about 8 feet.). That’s how fast things can change.

[SoCalDukeFan]

How did Florence affect things at Duke?

Thanks

[DU82]

How did Florence affect things at Duke?

Thanks

Email from President Price yesterday:

Dear Duke Alumni and Friends,

We recognize that the process of recovery from the devastation of Hurricane Florence has only just begun for many of our alumni and neighbors throughout North Carolina. Our thoughts and prayers are with those members of the Duke family who have been impacted by this historic storm, particularly the faculty, staff and students, and their families, at the Duke Marine Lab in Beaufort, N.C., which sustained damage and remains closed.

True to Duke’s commitment to uplifting the region, members of the Duke community have already launched a number of relief and support efforts for the victims of Hurricane Florence. The university has a website – Duke Relief Efforts – that will be continuously updated to provide information.

Please know that together your university and your alumni association stand with you at this challenging time.

Sincerely,

Vincent E. Price

[BigWayne]

Did the late shift again tonight. As I was leaving, we heard that NC 24 in Beulaville was opened earlier this evening, providing a reasonable detour around the still flooded I-40 between Burgaw and Wilmington. That route will get you to Jacksonville and then down US 17 (also recently cleared) to Wilmington. We want people to stay off of US 421; both as it’s not clear how long it will stay open with additional flooding from the CapeFear river, and so that emergency vehicles and supplies can go down that route while it’s open.

US 70 in Kingston is likely to flood by Saturday when the Neuse reaches flood stage (again).

Still no info on when I-95 will open. South Carolina opened their section earlier in the day, then the
Pee Dee River flooded and they had to close a section again about 6PM. Travel from Florida to NY is still being detoured throug Columbia, Charlotte and up I-85. Traffic on the detour routes is getting worse.

NC 904 in Brunswick County was open early today, then had about 2feet of water by noon; later the water was almost covering the “welcome to Brunswick County”sign (about 8 feet.). That’s how fast things can change.

421 is closed this morning as you feared.

[CameronBornAndBred]

421 is closed this morning as you feared.

And 70 in Kinston.

[HereBeforeCoachK]

And 70 in Kinston.

Friend of ours from Raleigh got through Kinston a couple hours ago, and she told my wife that Kinston would be shut down soon. Water in the parking lot of Neuse Sport Shop.

[devildeac]

1EF25325-2D03-410B-BDEC-11DDC971EAFA.jpg

Down and back to North Topsail Beach (NTB) from 0600-1700 today. Didn't even need 3 beers as a single White Street IPA with lunch today was sufficient. Beer name? Hoptimist. How appropriate, but that's another thread...

We encountered 2 flood-covered roads that NCDOT/Google maps/WAZE did not detect as we tried a couple detours around NC 50E. Ended up back-tracking to NC 24E through Kenansville to Jacksonville and then US 17S to NC 210 onto Topsail Island. Lots of small debris on above roads in small towns and could see a few areas where flood waters had receded. NTB from MM 16 to MM 11 survived with minor structural damage that was mostly missing shingles and siding, mangled/destroyed crosswalks over dunes and minor flooding. My wife watched a WRAL video about Surf City, 3 miles south of our house, and there were more dunes breached, lots of sand on the road and some first floor flooding. Our house had several dozen missing shingles, one partially detached strip of siding and some wet areas around doors. We consider ourselves lucky. Very, very lucky. Running water still worked and a neighbor reported power was restored about an hour after we departed. We were among the last group of customers out of 80K in the Onslow-Jones-Pender county areas to have power restored. That's not a complaint-that's near miraculous.

There were lots of folks returning to the coast today, being directed off I-40E at exit 373, not 385 as on-line maps seem to indicate. Traffic was backed up there for 2 miles. There were a number of 2 mile back-ups on NC 24E between I-40 and Jacksonville, guessing that's one of the few roads open.

We were expecting the worst with major structural damage and/or flooding from the enormous amounts of rain that fell and from storm surge and can't begin to express how fortunate we are but can very sadly sympathize with the folks at many other locations along the coast who sustained huge amounts of damages. I know our church is planning several (many?) activities in the next few weeks to months to help and I plan on taking days off and/or contributing generously to fund these efforts.