IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM EMERGENCY MANAGER DAVID HEGLAR
Kure Beach,
Below is the update from the 8am NHC for your information. Town preparations are wrapping up today and you should be wrapping inspecting your yard and securing any items to prevent impacting your property or your neighbors with the expected Tropical Storm winds early Thursday morning. Also please ensure that you have no debris that could be washed by the projected heavy rains into the stormwater system causing a local area backup.
The Town has tested all generators and they are staged at the sewer lift stations and wells in the event of a loss of power. Public Works, Fire and Police will be working through the night and if you observe a stormwater backup all calls will be directed to public works at 910-458-5816. The answering service will be transferring calls after hours to on call phone in which we will respond to in the order they come in.
If the Town loses power please minimize your usage of water as with the Town full of residents and visitors, the lift station generators will be taxed to keep up. If you use temporary generators at your home ensure that there is proper ventilation generators (Carbon Monoxide poisoning) and chainsaws (following the storm) result in a significant number of deaths and injuries attributed to Hurricanes.
During the storm late tonight and early tomorrow morning, please minimize being out sightseeing. With these winds any small item could impact you. Additionally a reminder that in the loss of power, or a non-functioning stop light all stop light intersections become 4 way stops. Also do not drive through standing water as you vehicle could become immobilized and then cause a traffic hazard impacting emergency services.
Town Hall will be closing at 1:00 p.m. today, Wednesday, August 30, 2023 to allow our employees to get home and complete any issues at their homes prior to the storm arrival. Town Hall will be closed all day on Thursday, August 31, 2023 for the storm.
Respectfully,
David W. Heglar, PE
Emergency Manager, Town of Kure Beach
From the 8am National Hurricane Center update:
At 800 AM EDT (1200 UTC), the eye of Hurricane Idalia was located by Tallahassee radar near latitude 29.9 North, longitude 83.5 West.
Idalia is moving toward the north-northeast near 18 mph (30 km/h). A north-northeastward motion is expected through the morning, with
Idalia's center forecast to move into southern Georgia later today. Idalia is forecast to turn toward the northeast and east-northeast,
moving near or along the coasts of Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina late today and Thursday.
Maximum sustained winds are estimated near 120 mph (195 km/h) with higher gusts. Idalia is a category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Although Idalia will weaken further now that the center is inland, it is likely to still be a hurricane while moving across southern Georgia, and near the coast of Georgia or southern South Carolina late today. Idalia is forecast to be a tropical storm while moving near the coasts of northeastern South Carolina and North Carolina tonight and on Thursday.
Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 25 miles (35 km) from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 175 miles (280 km).
The minimum central pressure is 950 mb (28.05 inches) based on aircraft data.
Water levels along the coast of the Florida Big Bend continue to rise rapidly. A NOAA National Ocean Service tide gauge at Cedar Key, Florida, recently reported a water level of 6.2 feet above mean higher high water,