Storm brings heavy rain, strong winds to Cape Fear; cold weather to follow

CAPE FEAR, NC (WWAY) — Severe weather hit most of the Cape Fear region Monday, with strong winds throughout the area, along with hours of rainfall.

Rain pounded the entrance to Johnny Mercer Pier in Wrightsville Beach, with driving winds whipping up the ocean.

Areas of Brunswick and New Hanover County saw as much as 2 and a half inches of rain from this storm, with reported gusts up to 50 miles per hour throughout the region.

No tornadoes have been reported, as the tornado watch the region was under ended around 5:30 pm.

Howard Wallace is the Cooperative Extension director for Columbus County.

He said with cold weather expected to follow this storm on Monday night, it’s important to follow the four p’s.

“Priority number 1 being people,” Wallace said. “If you have elderly or young folks, you need to be checking on them to make sure that they’re staying warm on a night like tonight. Pets, if you keep pets outside, you need to be giving them some sort of shelter. Pipes, you know, you need to keep some water running or open up your cabinets while your water is running. And also finally, plants. If you’ve already brought plants in due to the winds and due to the storm that is happening right now, just keep them in until this cold front passes.”

Colder air will move into the region Monday night, with the area under a freeze warning for Tuesday night.