Intense storms expected to run through the weekend
By Steve Herring and Ethan Smith
Published in News on October 2, 2015 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Seymour Johnson Air Force Base officials evacuated the 4th Fighter Wing's fleet of F-15E Strike Eagles and several 916th Air Refueling Wing KC-135 Stratotankers Thursday afternoon, as Hurricane Joaquin continues to threaten the East Coast. The 70-plus aircraft -- and the men and women who command them -- are expected to ride out the storm over the weekend at Barksdale Air Force Base, La.
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The fair midway and all outdoor activities were closed at the Wayne Regional Agricultural Fair on Thursday due to heavy rain.
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News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
Hayley Broggi bottle feeds a calf as Anthony Gurkins holds his cousin Railee Thomas, 2, at the fairgrounds on Thursday evening. Even on days when the fair is closed due to inclement weather, all of the animals are still cared for and fed twice a day.
Wayne County residents have not seen the worst of expected rainfall, as another 3 to 5 inches of rain are expected through Saturday night.
In the past 24 hours, Wayne County has received three-quarters of an inch to two inches of rainfall throughout the county, according to the National Weather Service. Flash flood and wind advisories for all of Wayne County were issued by the service this morning.
The rain is not coming from Hurricane Joaquin, which is still sitting in the Bahamas, but from two fronts of moisture from the Gulf Coast and the Atlantic Ocean, which are clashing over North Carolina, National Weather Service meteorologist Gail Hartfield said this morning.
"We have very heavy rain happening at the coast along the Outer Banks right now," Mrs. Hartfield said. "This storm is expected to turn west and come in from the coast."
Crews with the Goldsboro Public Works Department have already had to close Grantham Street between James and Center streets this morning, Public Works Director Jose Martinez said.
Wayne County emergency officials will continue to monitor Hurricane Joaquin, but will only have a partial activation of the emergency operations center. The National Weather Service in Raleigh said Hurricane Joaquin is expected to track more northeast than originally predicted, and is not expected to make landfall in North Carolina.
Since the storm track has moved farther east, what has become more of an immediate concern are the heavy rains, the possibility of downed trees and flash flooding, said Mel Powers, the county emergency medical and security director.
"I have been looking at the 8 o'clock advisory, really they have moved the track on Joaquin really far east," Powers said. "When I run the wind probabilities, Wayne County, or even North Carolina in total, I think there is a little part of Ocracoke that has a 5 percent chance of getting any kind of tropical force winds. We are talking anything up to 39 miles per hour sustained.
"So with the shift of the track over to the east, really it has taken a lot of this off North Carolina, especially Wayne County. We are still going to get rain. Rain is in the forecast. There will be a lot of rain mainly today with these other (storm) systems that we have. Tomorrow won't be as bad. Then we will start seeing another round of rain."
Due to the change in Hurricane Joaquin's predicted path, full activation of Wayne County Emergency Services' emergency operation center was halted.
"At this time, I am backing everything down to just a partial activation of the emergency operation center," Powers said. "We will have on-call staff that will monitor the storm system. Everybody in OES and essential personnel will be on call back."
Powers said that he drove around the county this morning and did not see problems, but added that the main concern remains flash flooding.
"The other concern with the ground saturation and with this additional rain it makes it a lot easier for trees to fall over," he said. "It does not take a whole lot of wind. A 20 mph wind could knock some of these trees over, but with the shift to the east, our wind probabilities are about zero right now."
Rural areas will have swelling creeks that will flood roads, and drivers are cautioned to drive slowly and avoid standing water. Trees throughout the county are also expected to fall under the stress of heavy rains and high winds, and residents can call the Goldsboro Public Works Department's emergency number at 919-750-2208 to report fallen trees.
"As we know, (hurricanes) have a mind of their own and there is nothing saying that it couldn't shift back to the west in the upcoming day or two, but that is why we are on a partial activation and monitoring it," Powers said.
Martinez said the "magic number" for rain-soaked trees to begin toppling over is 30 to 35 mile per hour winds. Public Works crews that have been out monitoring roads this morning prepared their chain saws, filling them with gas and oil, so that they would be ready to cut up trees and clear areas where trees fall, Martinez said.
"Local flooding is absolutely a concern," Martinez said. "The catch basins will get clogged with trees and limbs and cause flooding."
Mrs. Hartfield said Wayne County residents will begin to see improvements in the weather as early as Saturday evening, but that the weather is not expected to dry out and clear up until Tuesday.
Wayne County Regional Agricultural Fair Manager Eddie Pitzer said bull riding competitions on Monday, Oct. 5, and Tuesday, Oct. 6, have been canceled as of this morning, as well as the fair's goat show tonight.
Pitzer said he could not say exactly how much rainfall had already accumulated on the fairgrounds, but that preventive measures were being taken to protect buildings.
"We have put some sandbags around the front of the buildings (on the fairgrounds)," Pitzer said. "But really, very little, if any, water has gotten into the buildings. The buildings have those roll-down doors, like garages, but they aren't completely water tight, so the sandbags we have used have really helped keep that water out of the buildings."
Pitzer said a decision on whether or not the fair will be open tonight at 4 p.m. will be announced later today, after noon, and that people should check the fair's website at www.waynefair.com or the fair's Facebook page for the announcement to be made.