The remnants of Hurricane Idalia are expected to bring heavy rain, strong winds and potential flooding to North Carolina beginning early Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.
Idalia is expected to come ashore in the Big Bend region of Florida’s Gulf Coast early Wednesday as the first major hurricane of the 2023 season to make landfall in the United States.
Idalia’s current track has it arriving as a tropical storm in the Sandhills region of North Carolina early Thursday, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Cumberland County residents can expect rainfall of as much as 4 to 6 inches and wind gusts as high as 30 mph, said Aaron Swiggett, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Raleigh..
Flooding is possible in areas with poor drainage, but worries of river flooding remain low. The Weather Service has issued a flood warning for Cumberland County from Wednesday afternoon through Thursday evening.
Swiggett warned residents to be careful if they encounter floodwaters as they can be deadly.
“The No. 1 related fatality with tropical systems is the flooding and driving through flooded roadways,” said Swiggett, who advises motorists to find routes that avoid inundated roads.
Potential power outages are also a concern. Carolyn Justice-Hinton, a spokesperson for the Fayetteville Public Works Commission, said her office is monitoring the storm and will be ready to mobilize crews if and when outages occur.
Residents should prepare by charging cellphones and computers ahead of the storm and having battery-powered flashlights on hand.
Justice-Hinton said residents who rely on medical equipment that requires power should have a backup plan and a place to go in case they lose power during the storm.
Outages that do occur should be short-lived, Justice-Hinton said, as PWC will have repair crews on standby.
Both the city of Fayetteville and Cumberland County issued statements encouraging residents to prepare for the storm and sign up for their emergency alert email and text system, Cumberland Alerts, to stay current on the the effects of Hurricane Idalia.
Cumberland County Emergency Services staff is also monitoring the storm and is communicating with partner agencies about potential response efforts.
Contact government accountability reporter Char Morrison at cmorrison@cityviewnc.com.