Hurricane Florence hit North and South Carolina during Friday, September 14, leaving at least 15 dead and thousands of homes damaged across these states. Florence is now more week, but it is still expected to rain up to 10 inches (25 cm) of rain in North Carolina. Until now, over 900 people have been rescued from floodwaters.
Port Condition Zulu is still on at the ports of Wilmington, Morehead City, and Georgetown, South Carolina, meaning that these ports are closed and all port operations are suspended. Seven buoy-tending cutters are currently surveying and opening the ports of Wilmington and Morehead City as well as the North Carolina ferry system.
[smlsubform prepend=”GET THE SAFETY4SEA IN YOUR INBOX!” showname=false emailtxt=”” emailholder=”Enter your email address” showsubmit=true submittxt=”Submit” jsthanks=false thankyou=”Thank you for subscribing to our mailing list”]
The ports of Charleston, South Carolina, and Hampton Roads, Virginia, are open, but mariners are encouraged to be extremely careful.
More than 3,000 US Coast Guard members are responding to the hurricane Florence, while the USCG has rescued 193 people and 91 pets in North Carolina.
The National Guard has deployed over 6,500 Soldiers and Airmen on-duty, while more than 10 states are providing support. What is more, the US Northern Command has deployed almost 3,000 service members for assistance.
Finally, US DoD’s Defense Logistics Agency has deployed about 90 personnel and 170 trailers with commodities, such as 14,000 cases of shelf-stable meals, cots, durable medical equipment kits, infant and toddler kits, bottled water, 107 generators, blankets and nearly 300,000 gallons of fuel.