Here's Barbee's update as of Tuesday afternoon: "115 total rescues on Monday—14 animals. Garbage collection will resume on Wednesday."
Residents and visitors alike often base their reaction to storms on whether they're named — and in the case of hurricanes, their category. But in this case, the tropical cyclone got only an unassuming number.
Barbee said without the urgency of a named storm, “I think we all took it a little too lightly. I talked to tourists stranded here and driving through this because they had heard nothing of it.”
Barbee's day quickly turned into a “life safety day.” He said the emergency response center received about a hundred calls for property damage. Still, unfortunately, “those had to be put on the back burner” to respond to those life-threatening situations.
The mayor was stationed at town hall, fielding calls from residents and touring the storm's damage. By mid-morning, he declared a state of emergency.
The town also had to transport around 60 people who first responders rescued from the rising waters in their homes and hotels.
Barbee said he was happy to report no injuries and that “everyone had a safe place to sleep last night.” The town and New Hanover County had those water rescue vehicles because Barbee quickly discovered that regular SUVs could not reach people.
He shouted out the first responders who were “out there running towards problems all day.” When people were rescued and didn’t have another place to go, those first responders took them to the town hall, where the Red Cross staff and volunteers delivered aid.
Barbee also said he wasn’t going to disparage the New Hanover County Schools' decision to hold school Monday because of the sudden nature of the storm — but acknowledged that the district was going to “face a lot of criticism.”
And it has — NHCS interim superintendent Dr. Christopher Barnes issued an apology yesterday evening. Schools in the Cape Fear region are on a remote day on Tuesday, September 17.
He added that he was grateful that schoolchildren at Carolina Beach Elementary who didn’t go home on the bus were also rescued and taken home.
“Watching those military-style vehicles with a law enforcement officer, a fireman, and our school teachers handling these kids with just incredible care and getting them home or getting them to where they could get on the bus or getting them to where their parents could pick them up was just, it was just amazing,” he said.
Barbee said that the flood waters were receding on Tuesday, but some roads are still closed. “I’m not an expert, but I would say we need 12-24 hours to get everything passable again.”
He said he understands people need to get to work today, but residents should stay home if they don’t need to travel. He wants to remind everyone to “turn around, don’t drown” if roadways are flooded.
He added that today is the transition day; crews are out assessing damage, and the town should have a better understanding of the situation later Tuesday afternoon.
“I do know that a number of businesses have flooded, especially along Lake Park Boulevard and in that Central Business district,” he said. "Some of those businesses have anywhere from a couple of inches of rain to over a foot,” adding they’re hoping to help those owners throughout the day.
Barbee said he has a scheduled call with North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper later Tuesday afternoon to discuss damage assessments and determine what disaster relief funding is available.
