Tag Archive for: #hurricaneflorence2018

Tar River in Louisburg Expected to Peak Just Below Minor Flood Stage

-Information and chart courtesy Kristen G. King, Clerk to the Board, County of Franklin

As of Tuesday, September 18, the latest forecast is that the Tar River in Louisburg will peak at 19.05 ft tomorrow, Wednesday, September 19, 2018, at 6 p.m.

Minor flood stage for the Tar River in Louisburg is 20.0 ft.

Halifax EMC Sends Crew to Assist Carteret-Craven Electric Cooperative

-Press Release, Halifax Electric

The Halifax EMC service area was spared by the changed storm path taken by Hurricane Florence. Due to pre-storm preparations and the diligent work of Halifax EMC’s operations crew, members were minimally impacted with less than 350 power outages, which were restored in most cases in less than 1 ½ hours. Halifax EMC was back to normal operations by Friday afternoon.

On Sunday, September 16, 2018, Halifax EMC dispatched seven line workers and equipment to assist Carteret-Craven Electric Cooperative which serves members in Carteret, Craven, Jones and Onslow Counties. Currently, CCEC has 31,500 of 39,691 members out of service. The Halifax EMC crew is working in the Harker’s Island community of Carteret County to assist in power restoration.

“During times of disaster, cooperatives ban together to offer mutual aid to one another. It’s just part of our cooperative culture,” said Charles Guerry, executive vice president of Halifax EMC. “Halifax EMC is thankful that Hurricane Florence had minimal impact in our area and we are proud to have crew members who volunteered to help others in need.”

At this time, it is unknown as to how long our crew will be away; however, once the rains cease and flooding begins to subside, power restoration will move more quickly.

Granville County Logo

Six Granville Co. Roads Currently Closed Due to Flooding

-Press Release, County of Granville

After torrential rains in the area, six Granville County Roads have been closed by the N.C. Department of Transportation due to hazardous driving conditions. Residents traveling in these areas should expect to be detoured onto safer roadways until conditions improve and/or roadwork has been completed.

Affected roads are Aaron Creek Church Road, Tom Hunt Road, Enon Road and Tar River Road, which will be assessed by DOT later today.

Closed due to washed-out pavement are Community Road and Smart Road.

Drivers in these areas should plan for extra travel time, due to detours, and are urged to use extreme caution.

*WIZS Note – After consulting with Emergency Management, Granville County Public Schools (GCPS) made the decision to operate on a two-hour delay for all students and staff Tuesday morning. According to GCPS, this decision was made based on the high water and flooding of local roads.

H-V Emergency Operations

Hurricane Florence Updates – Sept. 14

Updated Friday, Sept. 14 at 4 p.m.

WIZS will be bringing you updates on Hurricane Florence as new information is received. Please check the WIZS websiteFacebook page and listen live to WIZS 1450 AM and 100.1 FM for updates. The latest briefing from the National Weather Service can be found by clicking here

-Information courtesy Brian K. Short, Director of Emergency Operations, Henderson-Vance County Emergency Operations and the National Weather Service

Hurricane Florence has made landfall and continues to slow. It is expected to slowly meander southwest into and across South Carolina through the weekend.

PRIMARY THREAT: Catastrophic flash and eventually river flooding is expected to persist through the weekend and into early next week. Strong sustained winds and gusts persisting into the weekend. Strongest gusts expected across the southeastern coastal plain of NC. Risk for short-lived and weak tornadoes as the rain bands push ashore this evening through Saturday afternoon. This event is now on-going. Please heed any evacuation orders that have been issued and continue to monitor the forecast for updates.

Three Key Points

1. Wind impacts continue from Hurricane Florence today, but the primary flooding threat is just beginning as the eye continues to stall just inland.

2. Initial heavy rainfall will cause Flash Flooding (ongoing) with prolonged moderate to major river flooding continuing into next week, especially across southern and eastern N.C.

3. Travel will likely become more treacherous today and tonight thanks to flooding. Dangerous winds coupled with saturated ground will also result in downed trees which will likely culminate in widespread and prolonged power outages.

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Updated Friday, Sept. 14 at 11 a.m.

Overall, Vance County seems to be weathering the storm pretty well.

Presently, Vance County remains under a local State of Emergency.

We have one active emergency shelter located at the former Eaton Jonson Middle School building in Henderson. The shelter currently has 40 occupants and we have noticed the numbers increasing this morning. We plan to leave the shelter open throughout the day today. We may decide to close the shelter later this evening but, worst-case scenario, we should be safe to close it tomorrow morning.

Our pet shelter also remains open. Presently we are sheltering one animal whose owner is in the shelter at Eaton Johnson Middle School.

We are receiving a few calls reporting downed trees and other minor storm-related calls but nothing major so far.

According to Duke Energy, as of now, Vance County has a total of 1,052 customers without power. This is down from over 2,200 overnight.

Our E-911 center remains overstaffed and the Emergency Operations Center remains activated with EM staff only. The EOC will close once we stand down the emergency shelter.

We still anticipate gusty winds and periods of hard rain today as bands from the hurricane move through our area.

Everyone, please stay safe.


Updated Friday, Sept. 14 at 8:30 a.m.

-Information courtesy Brian K. Short, Director of Emergency Operations, Henderson-Vance County Emergency Operations and the National Weather Service

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Updated Friday, Sept. 14 at 8 a.m.

Hurricane Florence has been downgraded to a category 1 storm with 90 mph winds along parts of the coast.

Vance County has experienced some periods of heavy rain at times, as well as some gusts of 35 mph but, so far, we have faired pretty well.

Presently we have 34 people in our emergency shelter at the former Eaton Johnson Middle School building on Beckford Dr. The shelter will remain open today.

We remain under a local state of emergency but, so far, we have not experienced anything major as a result of the storm.

We will continue to forward along additional updates as they are received.

Vance County NC

Several Vance Co. Events Canceled/Postponed Due to Hurricane

-Information courtesy Sandra Wilkerson, Director of Admin and Events, Henderson-Vance Chamber of Commerce

Events postponed or canceled due to the hurricane forecast include:

Franklin-Granville-Vance Smart Start, Inc.

Ducky Derby Race

September 15; 2 p.m. – CANCELED

Garnett Street in Downtown Henderson

A drawing for prizes will be held Friday, September 21 at noon at the F-G-V Partnership office. The public is invited to attend.

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Candidates’ Meet & Greet Reception

September 18; 6 – 7:30 p.m. – CANCELED

Henderson Country Club


Ground Breaking Ceremony at Salvation Army

September 19; 10 a.m. – CANCELED

Ross Mill Road

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Franklin County Logo

Shelters Open at Louisburg Senior Center, Franklinton High School

Update – Friday, September 14 – 11 a.m.

Shelters are currently open at the Louisburg Senior Center (127 Shannon Village) and Franklinton High School (910 Cedar Creek Road). For information about NC shelters, visit ReadyNC.org. You may also monitor https://www.franklincountync.us/alerts/hurricane-florence.

Franklin County residents are urged to sign up for Code Red alerts at https://public.coderedweb.com/CNE/en-US/76FC03E45CDF.

Boyette, Thompson Warn of Cyberattacks During Hurricane Florence

-Press Release, NC Department of Information Technology

State Chief Information Officer Eric Boyette and State Chief Risk Officer Maria Thompson are urging North Carolinians to be cautious of cybercrime before, during, and after Hurricane Florence.

Cybercriminals take advantage of natural disasters such as hurricanes to solicit personal information illegally and to take advantage of vulnerable infrastructures, disaster victims and volunteers by phishing. Phishing is when a criminal sends out an email, text message, or even a phone call pretending to be a reputable and legitimate source in order to obtain personal information such as credit card and Social Security numbers.

“Be cautious and stay vigilant,” said State Chief Risk Officer Maria Thompson. “Let’s ensure one disaster does not lead to another. Phishing threats are real. Cybercriminals will use every tactic in their arsenal to deprive citizens of their information and ultimately their financial assets.”

Take these steps to prevent being taken advantage of by cybercriminals:

  • Carefully look at email and web addresses since cybercriminals will make them look as legitimate as possible, often using variations of spellings. The URL may have a different domain, such as .gov instead of .net.
  • Do not click on links in emails from anyone unless you know and have verified the sender of the email.
  • Take time to look at the sender’s email address. Do not click on any links until you are certain the organization is real. Check the organization’s website for its contact information and use sites such as www.charitynavigator.org to verify a charity organization.
  • Make sure all of your anti-virus software is up-to-date and you’ve enacted the anti-phishing software provided by your email client.
  • Phishing emails and phone calls may also try to pose as official disaster aid organizations such as FEMA. A true FEMA representative will never ask personal banking information, Social Security number, or registration number.

“We all need to be mindful of the value of the data we have and use every day,” said Eric Boyette, State Chief Information Officer and Secretary of the Department of Information Technology. “Too many people are vulnerable during natural disasters and it is imperative to take necessary precautions to protect yourself. Think of it as preparing an emergency kit for your personal data.”

For more information about the North Carolina Department of Information Technology, visit our website or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Flickr.

Maria Parham Physician Offices Closed; Hospital Remains Open

-Information courtesy Maria Parham Health’s website

Due to potentially dangerous travel conditions from Hurricane Florence, all Maria Parham physician practice offices are closed until Monday, September 17. The hospital, including our Emergency Department, remains open to receive and care for patients.

Please stay tuned to our Facebook page for important updates throughout the duration of the storm.

Franklin County Logo

Franklin Co. Government Offices Closed Sept. 14 & 15

-Information courtesy Kristen King, Clerk to the Board, Franklin County

Due to Hurricane Florence, all Franklin County Government offices will be closed Friday, September 14 and Saturday, September 15.

National Weather Service

Hurricane Florence Updates – Sept. 13

Updated Thursday, Sept. 13 at 3 p.m.

WIZS will be bringing you updates on Hurricane Florence as new information is received. Please check the WIZS websiteFacebook page and listen live to WIZS 1450 AM and 100.1 FM for updates throughout the week.

The latest briefing from the National Weather Service can be found by clicking here. The forecast – including rainfall amounts, wind speeds and storm direction – is remaining steady from earlier today.


Updated Thursday, Sept. 13 at 10:30 a.m.

We should begin to feel the effects of the storm late this evening and tonight with conditions gradually worsening overnight and into tomorrow. They have increased our rainfall potential slightly but, other than that, nothing much has changed.

We have now officially decided to open the emergency shelter at Eaton Johnson Middle School located on Beckford Drive in Henderson at 5 p.m. today. Please DO NOT arrive early as no one will be there and the school will likely be locked until that time.

We are using our CODE RED system to get this message out to all of our citizens this morning. If you are not already signed up to receive messages on that system, please visit our web page at www.vancecounty.org/EM and click on the Emergency Alert System link to sign up. This system will be used to issue important notices prior to and after the storm’s impact.

We will be activating the Emergency Operations Center at 5 p.m. this evening and will begin 24-hour EOC operations at that time. As of now, we are at Readiness Level 1, which is our highest level in preparation for the storm. The 911 Center will be overstaffed as of 11 a.m. today and will remain that way throughout the storm. We are expecting the communications center to be extremely busy during the storm, so we are asking residents NOT to dial 911 for general questions to ensure that true emergency calls are able to get through.        

Please “like” Vance County Emergency Operations on Facebook to stay up to date on what is happening with the storm. We will also continue to forward along all relevant information as it is received.

Stay Safe.

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Updated Thursday, Sept. 13 at 9 a.m.

Hurricane Florence is approaching the coast and will slow today, and make landfall early Friday along the southern North Carolina coast, then slowly meander southwest into and across South Carolina. Confidence is HIGH that the event will occur; MODERATE confidence in expected impacts.

Strong sustained winds and gusts expected on Friday, likely persisting into the weekend. Strongest gusts expected across the southeastern coastal plain of NC. Flash and eventually river flooding likely beginning this evening and persisting through the weekend and into early next week. A risk for short-lived and weak tornadoes as the rain bands push ashore this evening through Saturday afternoon.

YOUR PREPARATIONS SHOULD BE IN PLACE NO LATER THAN MID-DAY TODAY!

Three Key Points

1. Hurricane Warning now in effect for Sampson and Wayne Counties. Tropical Storm Warning for Cumberland, Harnett, Hoke, Johnston, Lee, Moore, Nash, Richmond, Wake and Wilson counties.

2. Prolonged, life-threatening inland flooding event from heavy rain is expected across much of southern and eastern N.C.

3. Dangerous winds will also result in downed trees which will likely culminate in widespread and prolonged power outages.

For a much more detailed breakdown of the current forecast, including expected wind speed and rainfall amounts in our area, visit the National Weather Service website by clicking here