Cumberland County Opening Two Emergency Shelters Wednesday As Idalia Rains Begin

Cumberland County will be opening two emergency shelters in Fayetteville, as Hurricane Idalia begins to impact North Carolina.

Smith Recreation Center at 1520 Slater Avenue and Kiwanis Recreation Center at 352 Devers Street will open Wednesday at 7 p.m. to serve as emergency shelters during the storm.

Full release below:

With Hurricane Idalia expected to bring strong winds, heavy rain and flooding to the area tonight through mid-day Thursday, Cumberland County Emergency Services will open two emergency shelters for residents who need a safe place to go during the storm.

The County will open Smith Recreation Center at 1520 Slater Avenue and Kiwanis Recreation Center at 352 Devers Street today beginning at 7 p.m. to serve as emergency shelters during the storm.

Cumberland County Emergency Services encourages residents to stay safe and informed during the storm. The County will share information related to the storm through Cumberland Alerts, as well as on the County website and through County social media pages.

Cumberland Alerts is a free alert system that allows residents to receive critical information related to incidents such as severe weather, evacuations, protective actions and more. Notifications can be sent to your home, mobile or business phone, email and by text messages. To sign up for Cumberland Alerts, go to the County’s website at cumberlandcountync.gov and click on the Cumberland Alerts icon at the bottom of the page.

In addition to signing up for Cumberland Alerts, you can stay informed during Hurricane Idalia and any other time by visiting the County’s website at cumberlandcountync.gov or County social media pages at facebook.com/CCNCGov, facebook.com/CumberlandCountyNC911 and twitter.com/CCNCGov

A Tropical Storm Warning has been issued for Cumberland County, as Hurricane Idalia is moving into the region.

The National Weather Service issued the Tropical Storm Warning at 11:25 a.m. for Scotland, Hoke, Cumberland and Sampson Counties. Additional counties throughout the southeastern part of the state are under the same warning.

Idalia is still measuring as a Category 1 hurricane as it batters Georgia and Florida. It came ashore in the Big Bend area of Florida early this morning as a Category 3 hurricane. It had strengthened to a Category 4 at one point before that.

Several school closures and delays have been announced. You can see all the closings and adjustments on our special page here.

Here's more on the storm as it currently stands at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday.

By morning Tuesday, the National Weather Service has put in place a Tropical Storm Warning for much of the southern portion our region.

Outer bands of rain are already moving into the region. This will increase, with Tropical Storm force winds expected tonight.

At 1100 AM EDT (1500 UTC), the center of Hurricane Idalia was
located by Doppler radar near latitude 30.6 North, longitude 83.2
West. Idalia is moving toward the north-northeast near 20 mph (31
km/h). A turn toward the northeast is expected later today,
followed by an east-northeastward to eastward motion on Thursday.
On the forecast track, the center of Idalia will move across
southeastern Georgia today, near the coast of South Carolina
tonight, and just offshore the coast of southern North Carolina on
Thursday. Idalia is then expected to move east-southeastward over
the western Atlantic on Friday.

Maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 90 mph (150 km/h)
with higher gusts. Although Idalia will weaken further while the
center is inland, it is still expected to be a hurricane through
this afternoon or evening while moving across southeastern Georgia
and southern South Carolina. Idalia is forecast to be a tropical
storm while moving near the coasts of northeastern South Carolina
and North Carolina tonight and on Thursday.

Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 25 miles (35 km) from the
center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 230 miles
(370 km). Sustained winds of 40 mph (65 km/h) with a gust to 52 mph
(84 km/h) was recently reported at Moody Air Force Base near
Valdosta, Georgia.

The estimated minimum central pressure is 971 mb (28.68 inches).

Over 5-7 inches of rain is expected across much of our region.

Moderate flooding is expected across Southeastern North Carolina.