Rain continues in New Hanover County, but shelter remains empty

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — New Hanover County is in the middle of a State of Emergency as the relentless rain continues to fall. Streets are closed as the typical problem areas in the county are seeing a large amounts of flooding.

New Hanover County has seen its fair share of flooding and busted man holes this week, and the rain keeps on coming, but as of Wednesday evening, no one was coming to a Red Cross shelter.

Jeff Pellicie is the feeding liaison with the American Red Cross. He was expecting a good number of people to pour into the emergency shelter at Eaton Elementary School given these rough conditions. It may be calm within the school walls, but outside is a very different story.

It was a long day for Cape Fear Public Utility Authority crews as they scattered throughout the county directing traffic and keeping an eye on major problem areas.

Chris Reeves lives on Murrayville and Candlewood Roads, which is an area that flooded early this afternoon. He is depending on sandbags to stop the flooding from making its way up to his house.

Reeves decided to make the best of the torrential downpours, so he grabbed his boogie board and hit the high waters.

“I was soaking wet from work actually, so I went home and went out on my board, my slick board and just started surfing across the ditch,” Reeves said. “I’m taking advantage of it, kind of. It is slightly a nuisance due to sandbags at the door but I’m going to have a little bit of fun with it.”

It may be fun to some, but to others it’s a flashback of bad weather and serious consequences.

“Being from Miami and being through (hurricanes) Andrew and Katrina this is pretty close to that,” the Red Cross’s Pellecie said