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North Carolina watches and waits for Florence

Posted at 9:52 PM, Sep 13, 2018
and last updated 2018-09-13 23:33:39-04

Many people in the path of Hurricane Florence are waiting and trying to ride it out. 

From Wisconsin volunteers in Edenton, North Carolina, to family of Wisconsin residents in Mt.Olive, they all say they're prepared for what's to come. 

The rain and wind had already started by Thursday afternoon. 

"The clouds are moving very fast and the winds are very steady," said Lee Norman, who lives in New Bern, N.C. but travels to Wisconsin often for work. 

We spoke to Norman Wednesday at the airport as he was trying to get a flight back home. 

"It's impossible to get to New Bern by air now," he said. "It's the family. That's the biggest concern. Be there with them, for them, whatever."

On Thursday afternoon, we spoke to Norman by phone. 

"Standing in front of the garage door watching all of the trees lean to my right," he said. "The wind just keeps going." 

A little farther inland in Mt. Olive, Steve Curtis says he's lived through several hurricanes at his home and has been preparing for the last two weeks for Florence. 

"I've done everything that I can," he said. "I'm only in the wait-and-see and hoping that these trees stay." 

Curtis has family in Kenosha, who he's been updating hourly. 

The Red Cross is already filling shelters in North Carolina. Four Wisconsin volunteers are working at a shelter in Edenton. 

"It looks like it's gonna be on and off rain through midnight and then we should get continual rain and I think that's what we're concerned about," said Hillary Wanecke, a Red Cross volunteer from Delafield. 

She says they're expecting about 100 people at their shelter. They mainly are helping elderly people, some with oxygen tanks. 

"If the power does get lost, we do have a generator here for lights and that can power their oxygen," she said.