New Hanover County suspends curfew, continues relief efforts

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — New Hanover County officials say Thursday is their last official press conference. With the improvement throughout the county, the curfew has been suspended as of Thursday.

Officials say thousands of cases of water and meals were given out yesterday at the three points of distribution in New Hanover County.
Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo says county trash pickups will resume Thursday.

They also say that the shelter at Hoggard High School will remain open for as long as necessary. Officials say there are more than 400 people at the shelter right now, and they can still accept more people in need.

White says people can continue to apply for FEMA assistance at disasterassistance.gov. FEMA has been visiting residents at Hoggard to get them signed up for relief.

Officials say the county needs to be patient and cooperative to speed up recovery.

Their focus right now is on the water levels, as they keep rising. They urge people to not try to come home until the conditions are safer.

Saffo says routes back to Wilmington change on an hour to hour basis. Residents can call the NCDOT for all traffic concerns.

“And we are starting to slowly transition into recovery. We still have some worries in the northern part of the county for water rescue, as the waters continue to rise. But we are ahead of that issue and are in the process of acquiring and deploying swift boat rescues as they become necessary,” said New Hanover County Commission Chair Woody White.

As of Thursday, Duke Energy recorded around 24,000 homes throughout the county still without power. The county also expects to have a better idea of when UNCW and New Hanover County Public Schools will reopen in the coming days.

Officials say the most helpful donations right now are cash donations. You can donate at nvoad.org.

For information on meal sites, donation sites, shelters and other relief efforts, you can visit emergency.nhcgov.com.