Storm’s approach to Carolinas prompts closures, rescheduling for services

The threat of strong wind and heavy rain from Tropical Storm Idalia means a number of municipal, county, college and other services will be disrupted on Thursday.

The Cumberland County region can expect rainfall amounts of between 2 and 4 inches and wind gusts of up to 45 mph, according to the latest update from the National Weather Service. Isolated areas in and around Fayetteville and Fort Liberty could see up to 7 inches of rain.

Cumberland under tropical storm warning as Idalia nears.

Here is a roundup of closings, delays and other changes:

• Cumberland County Schools will be closed Thursday and all schoolwork will be remote, according to a statement on the school system’s website. The school system has implemented its asynchronous learning policy, which means that students will work on their own schedules and from their individual locations. All athletic and after-school activities scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday have been canceled or rescheduled. For updates, go to https://www.ccs.k12.nc.us/.
• Methodist University canceled all on-campus classes and activities Wednesday evening and Thursday. Online classes will meet as scheduled, and campus police, maintenance, and housekeeping employees will be on campus Thursday, a news release said. 
• As of 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Fayetteville State University’s website said university officials are monitoring the storm and will issue advisories as decisions are made. For updates, go to
• As of 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Fayetteville Technical Community College’s website said college officials are monitoring conditions. For updates, go to
• City of Fayetteville garbage and recreation services will operate with adjustments Thursday. Household and bulky waste will be collected on Thursday routes, but yard waste on Thursday routes will be collected on Friday. Yard waste on Friday routes will be collected on Saturday. Recycling pickup on Thursday routes will be collected Friday, and recycling on Friday routes will be collected Saturday, according to a city news release.
• Fayetteville-Cumberland Parks & Recreation centers will close at 7 p.m. Wednesday and reopen at 1 p.m. Thursday.
• FAST transit operations will begin at 8 a.m. Thursday.

• The Cumberland County Solid Waste Department will delay opening the Ann Street Landfill, Wilkes Road Treatment and Processing Facility, and Melvin Container site until 8:30 a.m. Thursday.

• Cumberland County Emergency Services will operate two shelters beginning at 7 p.m. at Kiwanis Recreation Center, 352 Devers St., and Smith Recreation Center, 1520 Slater Ave.
• Fayetteville Public Works Commission customers can call 910-483-1382 to report outages, service interruptions and downed power lines. PWC’s outage map is at com/electric-outage-map/.  As of 10:30 p.m. Wednesday,  PWC reported 13 outages in the Rim Road area of western Fayetteville.  
• Town offices in Hope Mills will be closed from 8 a.m. Thursday through 5 p.m. Friday, a town news release said.
• The Women, Infants and Children Clinic at 2122 Blackjack St. on Fort Liberty, operated by the Cumberland County Department of Public Health, will be closed Thursday.

For more information about weather alerts for Cumberland County, visit weather.gov/rah/ .

Contact Bobby Parker at editor@cityviewnc.com.

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