In the wake of Hurricane Florence’s sweep through the Wilmington area, crews were getting to work Saturday to start putting things back together. But officials are still waiting for the bulk of outside resources to arrive – before floodwaters can block off roadways.
 
Though the hurricane has passed, local officials warned Saturday morning that conditions remain far from ideal, with the Northeast Cape Fear River expected to crest sometime tomorrow.
 
The area remains under a tropical storm warning, New Hanover County Manager Chris Coudriet said at a briefing shortly before noon. The area has seen 10-12 inches of rain since Hurricane Florence made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane Friday morning.
 
He said as much as 14.5 inches are still expected, and the Northeast Cape Fear River is forecasted to rise and crest to about 26 feet.
 
Power outages remain widespread, with an estimated 112,000 without power in New Hanover County alone. (See power outage map here.)
 
“They prepositioned 20,000 crews to support power restoration,” Coudriet said about the utility. “But again, getting here at this point is not the easiest path.
 
“If you can make it here as a resource, we need that to come sooner rather than later,” he added about additional state, federal and Duke Energy workers still to come in reference to flooding concerns.
 
“We are working with Duke Energy to get assets here before the floodwaters rise. That’s a concern,” New Hanover County Commissioners Chairman Woody White said. “We survived this. We have a long way to go … It’s probably going to get worse, but we’re going to be OK.”

City and county officials urged those who had left the area ahead of the hurricane to hold off on returning, pointing to the current conditions.
 
Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo said the city has 20 active tree clearing crews out, and the plan is to deploy more with Duke Energy as they come in.
 
“We’re going to double the capacity in the coming days,” he said.
 
Officials said tree clearing activities were being prioritized for the major intersections without downed power lines. They added that crews planned to work in conjunction with Duke Energy linemen to address active power lines where trees need to be cleared.
 
Saffo said that 1,000 Duke Energy trucks were expected to come in the next few days.
 
“Nevertheless, we’re expecting widespread power outages for quite some time,” he said.
 
He said a preliminary damage assessment has started, and traffic management workers would be able to begin repairing traffic signals once wind gusts dip below 35 mph. Traffic signals were out at all of the major intersections in the city, Saffo pointed out.

The former Sears space at Independence Mall will serve as a base camp of operations for the additional resources coming in. He also said there were plans to provide enough food and water for 60,000 people for four days. Officials are currently making staging plans, and they expected to announce on Sunday where the distribution sites would be and when they would start.

To see the full briefing and for other updates from New Hanover County, go to the county's Facebook page.