Hurricane Florence updates indicate that the fear of Carolina Beach flooding with perhaps total inundation could happen. Yesterday, CNN reported that Mayor Joe Benson said, " Flooding is almost guaranteed." In a new report late September 13, Accuweather noted that conditions are deteriorating. The eye of the storm is storm expected to hit "the coast near Wilmington, North Carolina, early Friday morning." Flooding at the north end of Carolina Beach has already begun as waves crash over the dunes, CNN notes.
Concerns for those who did not evacuate
In their previous report, CNN noted that the manager of Carolina Beach, Mike Cramer, thought around 1,000 people had chosen to stay. However, hopefully, when law enforcement officials went in to do a head-count, more people opted to leave. Today's report by CNN noted that "the northern end of the town was being swamped as water crashed over the dunes." The situation could potentially become worse, as Fox News pointed out. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Florence is forecast to "move near or over the coast of southern North Carolina and northeastern South Carolina in the hurricane warning area on Friday." The report added that "A slow motion across portions of eastern and central South Carolina is forecast Friday night through Saturday night."
Tracking Hurricane Florence: The Storm’s Damage, Impact and Path pic.twitter.com/BYI601n9iS
— TauqeeR (@toqeeqayyum) September 14, 2018
As Accuweather noted in Thursday's report, a slow hurricane is not going make things better.
They predicted a possible stall that would bring exteme levels of rain. CNN updates note that their team in New Bern, on the Neuse River, had to keep moving to stay ahead of the flooding, but eventually had to leave because it was getting dangerous. According to the news outlet, 12.73 inches fell over a 24-hour period. The recording was taken in Atlantic Beach.
The downgraded Hurricane is a slow storm which makes for more flooding
Accuweather Hurricane Expert, Matt Rinde, pointed out that for the Carolinas, the flooding will get worse. The slowing of the storm means much more rain will fall in the area. It's likely flooding could continue through Sunday. Meanwhile, the earlier predictions in Carolina Beach that the storm surge could reach as high at 13 feet seem confirmed in a report by MSNBC.
The news item that was shared to Twitter said that "storm surges account for as much as 41 percent of deaths when it comes to Hurricanes."
RT MSNBC: WATCH: Hurricane Florence storm surge expected in North Carolina rivers and may reach 13 feet in some areas. https://t.co/HnfGgYivBL pic.twitter.com/uIm6F56Lol
— The Breaking News (@thebrkg) September 14, 2018
On a chart, the presenter explained that rain accounts for over 20 percent. It was noted that there is "tons" of rain already. Once again, there was a mention of inundation of coastal areas. At this time, it's anticipated the biggest storm surge from Hurricane Florence will affect the Cape Lookout and Cape Fear areas.