Hurricane Matthew: New Bern area soaked, but largely spared
Power outages because of fallen trees and tree limbs presented the biggest problems on Sunday. Many yards were full of leaves and other debris, and there were reports of standing water in some places, particularly around
But by and large,
"Matthew was a challenging storm from start to finish, the forecast was continually changing," said City Manager
Wet, but OK
A few power outages were reported in
Meanwhile,
Wind damage appeared confined to a few trees and limbs. A billboard along
Also Sunday,
At midday, only a few city streets remained closed because of flooding:
Now, leaf and limb crews will focus on clearing storm debris. Residents are encouraged to clean up storm debris and pile it at the curb, out of the right of way.
Limbs should be less than five feet in length and 5 inches in diameter.
Citizens should expect some delays in scheduled leaf and limb pickups because of the large volume of debris.
Power outages in
The storm scattered power outages throughout
"This is the eighth hurricane I've seen up close and personal,"
He said he was prepared to go to his job at Harris Teeter in
"I'm afraid it's going to slide down into my home," he said as he waited on a crew to cut it down. "Thirty years ago, I would have had that thing down already."
He said his home lost power around
"I heard a noise and looked at my phone when the power went out, but I don't know if that's when the tree came down or not," he said. "With the wind, I was hearing noises all night long."
Though power was out in areas, some trees were down -- including one on a vacant home on
"It could have been a lot worse," said
He said some larger limbs came down in his back yard, and the power had gone out. He spent Saturday evening listening to the sounds of acorns pounding his roof.
"It sounded like bullets hitting the house," he said.
The major focus Sunday was on power company crews clearing lines so the county could remove fallen trees.
"Today emergency responders are out clearing roadways to insure safe travels," said Sheriff
There were a number of trees and power lines down along
He said the wind gusts about
O'Neal said water levels were higher in the days leading up to the storm than during its run across the northeastern section of the county.
"We were lucky, but I've got three brothers in
He said there was little damage and no fires reported in the station's district overnight.
He and other firemen did note there were a number of local "light shows" with transformers failing.
Early Sunday, electricity was off in the
He had tested the generator Wednesday and it worked fine, but he had to tinker with it for an hour late Friday night to get it started. It was vital that he have the generator running when the power went out just after midnight because his wife Rose uses oxygen and a CPAP.
"All is good down (N.C.) 306," he said. "There was no flooding, but it is coming."
Flooding ahead
River flooding is expected in the Neuse and
Rivers are expected to rise quickly in the next 12 to 24 hours and are expected to crest on Thursday or Friday. Local areas at high risk for flood potential are certain portions of
Not far away, forecasters were predicting "Hurricane Floyd-like" flooding for areas along the
In
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Power outages, flooding follow in Matthew’s wake
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