Tropical Storm Isaias officially left the eastern part of North Carolina in the early hours of Monday morning. In the storm’s wake -- hundreds of thousands without power and property damage from suspected tornadoes, fires, wind, and rain. As WHQR reports, Cape Fear counties are in the midst of their damage assessments.
The Storm came ashore on Ocean Isle Beach as a Category 1 Hurricane at 11:10 Monday evening. Steven Still, Emergency Management Director for New Hanover County, says the storm did the unexpected:
“Right before it made landfall, it sped up, and then right before landfall, the tornado potential increased substantially; usually storms don’t do that as they approach a coast, they degrade.”
There were reported tornadoes in neighboring Brunswick County, but New Hanover County local officials are trying to confirm whether they touched down:
“It’s not easy to look at damage -- is this straight line wind or was this tornado activity, so those who know best are out assessing those major damaged areas.”
For those coastal residents without power, Still says, it could take some time:
“We don’t expect power restoration today or even tomorrow, so it may be 2 and half days, maybe 3 days.”
Steven Still says Wilmington and the surrounding area had some pockets with wind and rain damage, but that the surrounding counties received the brunt of the storm:
"It seems like Brunswick got hit really bad with tornado activity; I’m hearing the same in Bertie County.”
Still urges Cape Fear residents to be cautious when cleaning up debris because that’s when accidents and injuries happen.