Widespread power outages and icy conditions in New Hanover County caused problems throughout the day Wednesday for businesses and residents alike.
 
At 10:13 a.m., Independence Mall posted a Twitter message saying the mall was closing immediately because of a power outage. The mall had closed at noon on Tuesday because of the storm and had planned to reopen officially at noon Wednesday before lack of power forced it to remain closed.
 
Paige Kon, spokeswoman for Mayfaire Town Center, said that the lifestyle shopping complex had power but that several stores were planning to shutter their operations early on Wednesday.
 
“Some are closing at 3 p.m. and some at 5 p.m.,” she said. “It varies. I don’t have a list or any specifics, but everyone has power, to my knowledge.”

Expect outages, be patient
 
Duke Energy spokesman Scott Andresen, contacted at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, reported that 44,800 customers in New Hanover County, 5,600 customers in Brunswick County and 4,600 customers in Pender County were without power at that time.
 
“Yours is a very hard-hit area, mostly because of the weight of the ice on power lines and tree branches,” he said.
 
Duke Energy’s map of power outages showed that areas all over New Hanover County were affected.
 
“We have 3,400 field workers across the Carolinas and have brought in another 500 from Florida and the Midwest,” Andresen said. “I would like to stress: please be patient, and if you see workers repairing lines, please give them a wide berth so that we can get power restored as quickly and safely as possible.”
 
Andresen also cautioned the public not to touch downed lines.
 
“If you see a downed or sagging power line, consider it energized and call Duke Energy at 1 (800) 419-6356 to report it,” he said.
 
Before power restoration can begin, crews must first assess the damage, Andresen said, adding that the power company’s first priority was safety for its customers and crews. He said that crews were busy in the Cape Fear region doing those initial assessments on Wednesday.

Airport open but quiet
 
Wilmington International Airport was fully open but quiet Wednesday afternoon, with only two flights expected in this evening, said Gary Broughton, the airport's director of operations. Earlier flights had all been cancelled: arriving flights because of their inability to depart from their origin and departing flights because they would have trouble at their destination airports, Broughton said.

"Unlike during the last winter storm, we are fully open and operational and have been able to keep up with the weather," he said. "The problem has been weather in other cities, mainly Charlotte and Atlanta."

As of 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, the airport was reporting that only two flights would arrive in Wilmington: flight 2864 from Charlotte at 10:03 p.m. and flight 4063 from Philadelphia at 10:58 p.m. The status of one or both of those flights could still change.

"We're continuing to have conference calls with the Weather Service," he said.

“All Philadelphia and Washington D.C., flights scheduled for Thursday have been cancelled because the storm is moving in that direction,” Broughton said, adding that the Philadelphia airport was already beginning to see problems Wednesday afternoon.

Like many other parts of the area, the airport lost electricity Wednesday and was operating on generator power.