Ernesto Soaks N.C. Coast, Heads North
Pastor Dale Morgan
Ernesto Soaks N.C. Coast, Heads North
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Friday September 1, 2006 2:16 PM
By MIKE BAKER
Associated Press Writer
WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) - Tropical Storm Ernesto slogged into North
Carolina just shy of hurricane strength, flooding roadways, forcing
evacuations and promising more of the same Friday as it moved northward.
The system made landfall just before midnight on the heels of
thunderstorms that had drenched the state for more than a day.
On the Outer Banks, waves and standing water shut down part of the main
road, and about 50 miles of Interstate 40 on the mainland was closed
early Friday because of flooding, the state Department of Transportation
said.
Ernesto's rain as it moved inland was expected to push the Tar and Neuse
rivers over their banks in several eastern towns, state spokeswoman
Patty McQuillan said early Friday. The National Weather Service recorded
6 to 7 inches of rain in Onslow County by 5 a.m.
``The biggest concern is flooded roads - especially at night, it's
harder to tell if a road has been washed out or not,'' McQuillan said.
``If people don't need to drive, they shouldn't be out there.''
Flood warnings and watches were issued across mostly rural eastern North
Carolina, and a tornado watch extended across central-eastern counties
and along the Outer Banks.
The governors of North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia each
declared a state of emergency because of the storm.
``The forecast has improved somewhat, though we're not out of the woods
yet,'' said Laura Ramburg, a spokeswoman Gov. Joe Manchin, who declared
the state of emergency for 13 counties on Friday.
The National Weather Service forecast 3 to 6 inches of rain for the
eastern part of West Virginia as the storm moved through on Friday.
The storm stayed offshore of South Carolina, but its outer bands still
brought torrential rain that inundating Charleston streets. The worst
flooding there was early Thursday afternoon as the storm passed at sea
around high tide. At one intersection, the water lapped up against
several houses.
In Beaufort Country, N.C., near the coast on Pamlico Sound, about 1,500
families were under a mandatory evacuation order, and police were going
door-to-door early Friday in an area where the drainage is poor, said
George Sullivan, director of the county Emergency Management Office.
``Most of them are in bed asleep,'' he said. ``So we're telling them the
water's rising, c'mon, let's go while they can still get their cars out.''
Nearly 300 people were in the state's 18 shelters Friday morning.
Ernesto's sustained winds reached 70 mph, just 4 mph below hurricane
strength, as it made landfall at Long Beach, just west of Cape Fear, at
11:30 p.m. Thursday. It dumped more than 8 inches of rain on the
Wilmington area - a record for the date, according to the National
Weather Service.
The storm weakened as it moved inland but still had 50 mph sustained
winds at 8 a.m., well above the 39 mph threshold for a tropical storm.
Ernesto's center was inland, just east of Rocky Mount and about 100
miles southwest of Norfolk, Va., moving north at nearly 15 mph with
maximum sustained winds at 8 a.m. It was expected to turn to the north
and slow down during the next 24 hours, weakening to a tropical depression.
Even in a state that has seen widespread drought this summer, many
feared the rain might be too much of a good thing. A separate storm
system had already dropped as much as 8 inches of rain on parts of
central and eastern North Carolina on Wednesday.
A hurricane watch from the South Santee River, S.C., to Cape Fear was
dropped, though a tropical storm watch was posted from Cape Fear to
Currituck Beach, including Pamlico and Albemarle sounds.
Many eastern school districts and some businesses planned to open late
Friday, including the Marine Corps bases at Camp Lejeune and Air Station
New River, on the coast near Jacksonville. The ports at Wilmington and
Morehead City were also closed by the Coast Guard at mid-afternoon.
Sean Gainer was driving down a street in Wilmington when his car
suddenly stalled in two feet of water. By the time he and others pushed
it to safety, the water in the road had receded.
``I've driven in hurricanes and I've seen worse than this. That kind of
luck just happens,'' he said.
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On the Net:
National Hurricane Center: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov