Press Releases

Hurricane Florence continues to move toward the coast of North Carolina and according to the National Weather Service is expected to make landfall near Wilmington, North Carolina as a Category 2 storm Friday morning at approximately 8:00 AM. Once on shore, Florence is expected to degrade and forward movement will decrease dramatically. While the post landfall behavior of the storm is less predictable, most models have Hurricane Florence moving south and coming ashore on the South Carolina coast near Myrtle Beach, SC. From there the storm should continue to degrade as it moves west, likely passing through Florence County as a strong tropical storm late Friday evening or early Saturday morning. Winds from 30 to 50 miles per hour with gusts up to 60 miles per hour are likely. The estimated rainfall in our area is expected between 10 to 15 inches. Conditions are expected to deteriorate between Friday evening through Sunday morning. Wide spread power outages, localized flooding and washed out roads and bridges are likely with the effects of the storm lasting through Sunday.

Florence County Council has authorized the County Administrator, the Director of Emergency Management and Florence County Sheriff Kenney Boone to impose a curfew and mandatory evacuation of threatened areas if conditions warrant. Currently however, no such curfew or evacuation has been ordered at this time. Nevertheless, Florence citizens are urged to stay tuned for developing conditions and to heed recommendations for safety and shelter in their area.

FCSO has been preparing for this storm for the last week in close cooperation with local and state officials, and has pre-deployed deputies and other assets throughout the county in order to respond to conditions as they develop.

“Protection of the citizens of Florence County is our primary focus,” Sheriff Kenney Boone stated. “If you don’t have to travel, please stay off the roads, especially at night as it is impossible to determine the depth of water on the roadway or downed power lines. Please also remember that our deputies are in harm’s way and away from their families over the next several days so that they can respond to real emergencies. Stay tuned to local weather advisories and heed the recommendation of our Emergency Management personnel. We’ll be out to provide as much protection and assistance as possible until conditions return to normal.”

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Major Michael M. Nunn
General Counsel/P.I.O.