Storm prep underway, residents prepare for the worst

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Lifeguards at Wrightsville Beach have had to call in back-up today to get as many guards out here as they can. They say they can see rip currents popping up everywhere.

People continued to bear the waters, but most did not go in past their waist. Lifeguards say the waters are only going to get worse as the week goes on.

“A lifeguard actually came out to us twice because we got pulled out pretty far. And we’re pretty good swimmers. She’s had to come get at least three or four people already. And we were only there for two hours. just from this, I realized I don’t even want to be out there right now, so we came in,” said Tyler Ford, who stopped swimming because the waters got so rough.

It was a mad dash to the grocery store this morning. Residents all around the Wilmington area are buying stores out of water and other hurricane supplies.

Shoppers scoured the aisles for non-perishable foods and batteries. The Piggly Wiggly says they went through around 150 cases of water by Sunday morning, and Costco completely ran out of water by Sunday afternoon.

Lines for gas and propane were already starting as well. Some shoppers do not want to get too worried yet, but they are making sure they are stocked up on all the essentials.

“I feel very comfortable because I haven’t heard of anything that’s going to be catastrophic, that’s going to be problematic in terms of the forecast. But we pay attention as it gets closer and listen to the forecast. And we’ll stay in tune that way and adjust accordingly,” said Wilmington resident Donnell Giles.

Stores have been trying to re-stock the shelves, but residents are gathering up everything they can right now. Costco says they plan to open earlier this week at 9am instead of 10am.

Homeowners on Wrightsville Beach are also not taking any chances. They are staying ahead of the game and preparing for the worst.

Residents on the intracoastal are not joking around. Almost every boat has been lifted out of the water, and the waters were pretty empty Sunday.

Homeowners have been out securing their docks and some have even started boarding up windows. One resident says he’s nearly been through it all, but this time is different.

“We’ve been through them for a lot of years. We went through Floyd and Fran and all of that. Those were threes. And we didn’t board up. We’re boarding up for this one,” said Bob Huth, who’s house is right on the intracoastal.

Huth says they want to get this done early. He plans to move his boat to a secured building, and he is getting out and moving inland until this is all over.