WILMINGTON — As Hurricane Florence intensified and continued its course toward the southeastern U.S. coast on Monday, residents of Wilmington were doing everything they could to prepare for an expected life-threatening coastal storm surge and flooding.
At Lowe’s Home Improvement at Porter’s Neck, Chris Graham and his father, Larry, were loading thick sheets of plywood into Chris’ construction van to cover glass windows.
“We’re getting the house ready so I can leave the area,” Larry said. “He’s gonna stay and make sure it’s all here when we come back.”
“We came from Ohio, it’s our first big [hurricane],” Chris added. “I’m feeling a little bit anxious but I’m excited man; I can’t wait to see what she’s got.”
Ben Clark, 37, who has lived in Wilmington his whole life, expressed more apprehension.
“This may be the first time I ever leave for a hurricane,” Clark said, loading packages of water bottles onto a lumber cart in case he decides to stick around. “We’ll see; just the size of it, the rainfall, how slow it’s moving. It’s going to sit on top of us for 48 hours essentially. I’ve got two young kids.”
A homebuilder by trade, Clark was focused on prepping around 80 houses currently under construction before turning to his home in Marsh Oaks and finalizing evacuation plans for his family.
While overseeing a forklift loading bags of concrete onto a flatbed work truck, Lowe’s employee Zach Gore talked about his own evacuation plans.
“I got family who live over in Lumberton, where during Hurricane Matthew they got destroyed, and they’re looking to evacuate back to Lumberton. Yeah, I’m thinking I won’t do that. If I evacuate, I’ll probably go more inland,” Gore said.
While Lowe’s faced shortages in materials like plywood on Monday afternoon, store manager Brian Vinson said his company was well prepared for the coming storm.
“We’ve been very prepared. Our command center has gotten out in front of it this year. We prepared early this year and unfortunately it looks like it’s going to hit us in a bad way. We will be here for our community before, during, and after the storm,” Vinson said.
While the store faced a shortage in plywood, Vinson said a truck shipment was on its way.
“This particular market runs from Moorhead City down to Conway, South Carolina. Every store is prepared with generator trucks on the road, water trucks on the road, batteries, flashlights.”
He also said a generator can run the entire store so if power goes out they will be open and ready for their customers, stockers will be loading supplies from a constant supply of trucks 24 hours a day, and cleanup materials are on the way for after the storm — trucks of drywall, plywood, sump pumps, mops, buckets, bleach and chainsaws.
Lowe employees from locations outside the impact zone will come assist after the storm, “giving our employees time to take care of their family needs here in town,” Vinson said.
Monday evening, gas stations along Oleander Drive were either empty, with gas nozzles covered by plastic bags labeled “Sorry Out of Service,” or overloaded with lines of cars — many fueling up for evacuation.
Standing in a checkout line at a Scotchman-Exxon gas station on Oleander, Karen Hughes discussed her own evacuation plans with other customers in line.
“I’d rather have it tear down my house than hurt my family,” Hughes said. “God bless us all.”
Ben Clark, 37, who has lived in Wilmington his whole life, loads up packages of water at a Lowe's Home Improvement store in Porters Neck, Wilmington, Monday, September 10, 2018. (Port City Daily photo | Mark Darrough)
Lowe's employee Zach Gore oversees a forklift loading concrete on a work truck at a Lowe's Home Improvement store in Porters Neck, Wilmington, Monday, September 10, 2018. (Port City Daily photo | Mark Darrough)
Store manager Brian Vinson talks with customers and employees at a Lowe's Home Improvement store in Porters Neck, Wilmington, Monday, September 10, 2018. "We will be here for our community before, during and after the storm," Vinson said. (Port City Daily photo | Mark Darrough)
A Scotchman-Exxon gas station off Oleander Drive in Wilmington that had run out of gas Monday evening, September 10, 2018. (Port City Daily photo | Mark Darrough)
Cars line up to fill with gas at a Citgo station off Oleander Drive in Wilmington Monday evening, September 10. (Port City Daily photo | Mark Darrough)
Mikel Moore of Carolina Ice Company delivering a load of ice to the Citgo gas station off Oleander Drive in Wilmington Monday evening, September 10. (Port City Daily photo | Mark Darrough)
A Scotchman-Exxon gas station and convenience store off Oleander Drive in Wilmington showed empty shelves of Snapple juice bottles Monday evening, September 10, 2018. (Port City Daily photo | Mark Darrough)