Storm to affect county
By Steve Herring
Published in News on August 29, 2017 5:50 AM
Wayne County and central North Carolina are under a flash flood watch and wind advisory until 8 p.m. tonight.
Meanwhile, tropical storm watches and warnings have been issued for the North Carolina coast.
A tropical storm warning means tropical storm wind conditions are expected somewhere within an area and within the next 36 hours.
Rain bands were forecast move into the area Monday evening, with some of those bands containing heavy rain from late Monday night through about midday today, according to the National Weather Service in Raleigh.
Between 2 and 5 inches of rain is expected along and east of Interstate 95 as potential tropical cyclone 10 tracks northeast along or just inland of the Carolina coast into today.
The storm poses the risk for localized flash flooding of urban and poorly drained areas.
"Their (National Weather Service) confidence is medium on it (forecast) -- 3 to 5 inches starting late tonight until about lunchtime (today)," said Craig Brown, emergency management coordinator for the Wayne County Office of Emergency Services.
"We are still monitoring the situation. We will continue to monitor it through the worst of it anyhow. If any decisions are made on schools and county offices, we will make those early in the morning. But I don't really foresee any closures on our part.
"It is going to be like a bad rain storm, really from what I am seeing and talking with the National Weather Service."
Wayne County Public Schools spokesman Ken Derksen said the administration is "closely monitoring" the weather and will be staying in "close communication" with Wayne County Emergency Management.
"At this time, all schools are operating on their regular schedules," he said.
Brown said he does not think river flooding will be a problem, but that creeks and streams such as Stoney Creek are prone to flash flooding.
"I think that could be an issue but that it will be localized in low-lying areas," he said. "I do not think it will be widespread. It is just normal flood-prone, low-lying areas."
Any such flash flooding should go away pretty quickly, Brown said.
Brown reminds motorists to never drive across water-covered roadways since most flash flood deaths occur in automobiles.
"Even though the water may not look that deep, it could be deep enough to flood out your vehicle and leave you stranded," Brown said. "Or in worst case, where the road used to be, it may not be there anymore.
"We learned that during Hurricane Matthew. Just in our county we had 65 washouts. The main key is if there is standing water on the roadway, don't go into it. Turn around, go back from where you come from. Try to find an alternate route."
Winds may gust up to 40 mph as the bands move across the area, according to the National Weather Service.
The winds will likely cause isolated pockets of downed trees and power lines -- most likely from Monday night through about midday Tuesday, and for areas along the I-95 corridor and eastward.
According to the National Weather Service, minor flooding of the Neuse, Cape Fear and Tar rivers and their tributaries can't be ruled out during the middle of the week, but mainly if the area receives more rain than what's currently expected.
As of 1 p.m. Monday, the Neuse River was at about 3.5 feet and is expected to reach 5.2 feet by late Wednesday -- still well below its flood stage of 18 feet.
The area will enjoy a break in the rainy weather Wednesday and into Thursday afternoon.
But a slow-moving cold front, combined with some remnant Harvey moisture, will result in additional, mainly light rain Thursday through Saturday.
While it won't be raining that entire time, an additional 1 to 2 inches of rain could fall.
The rain will bring cooler temperatures today with a high of 74 degrees forecast falling to 64 overnight.