IMPORTANT UPDATE FROM THE EMERGENCY MANAGER

Kure Beach Citizens and Visitors,

Good morning and hope all is well at your home or residence. Graphics from the National Weather Service highlighting the wind issue and the current projected tract are attached for your information.

TS Debby made landfall early this morning in the Bulls Bay area of South Carolina. It is slowly making its way northward and the town will see effects (rain bands and gusty winds approaching tropical force strength) throughout today and into early Friday morning as the storm leaves the area.

Throughout the night, Public Works, Kure Fire and Police Departments monitored the situation and responded to multiple calls with no significant issues as of this morning to report.

There are approximately 58 customers without power in the town as of 8am this morning. Reminder – please contact Duke Energy https://outagereport.duke-energy.com/#/report-outage/home/find-account online or by phone 1-800-543-5599.

Public Works, Police and Fire Personnel will continue to respond to any issues in the town during the event, if you observe a stormwater backup all calls will be directed to public works at 910-458-5816. The answering service will be transferring calls after hours to on call phone in which we will respond to in the order they come in and based on priority.

Town Hall will be open today with normal hours, however may have reduced staffing based on travel conditions for employees.

The normal bulk trash pickups on Thursday morning of piled debris WILL NOT occur to allow Public Works to focus on Stormwater drainage throughout this event.

Kure Beach Ocean Rescue reminds everyone that the current high sea state and windy conditions are EXTREMELY dangerous and people should avoid Ocean swimming today and tomorrow.

If you see downed power or cable lines treat them as energized and contact 911. Fire and Police will respond to evaluate safety issues and work to get the appropriate utility to clear them.

If you use temporary generators at your home ensure that there is proper ventilation generators (Carbon Monoxide poisoning) and chainsaws (following the storm) result in a significant number of deaths and injuries attributed to Hurricanes.

Throughout the rest of today, please be careful and plan ahead for your trips. With these gusty winds and localized rain bands local conditions could become hazardous. Be extremely cautious of ponding water on roadways. Do not drive through standing water as you vehicle could become immobilized and then cause a traffic hazard impacting emergency services. Additionally a reminder that in the loss of power, or a non-functioning stop light all stop light intersections become 4 way stops.

Respectfully,
David W. Heglar, PE
Emergency Manager, Town of Kure Beach