StarNewsOnline.com: The Voice of Southeastern North Carolina

StarNewsOnline.com: The Voice of Southeastern North Carolina

"Ophelia picks up momentum
Some flooding, outages reported

UPDATED 9:30 AM - As of 8 a.m., the center of Ophelia was about 60 miles south of Wilmington and had gained some strength, according to the National Hurricane Center. Maximum winds were about 80 mph and the storm is moving north-northeast at about 6 mph. A gradual turn toward the northeast and a slightly faster forward speed is expected by tonight.

By Gareth McGrath
Staff Writer

Ophelia regained forward momentum this morning, bringing strong winds and heavy rains to parts of Southeastern North Carolina that had already been lashed by the storm for days.

After spending several hours stalled roughly 110 miles south of Wilmington, the Category 1 hurricane restarted its slow, seemingly torturous path toward the coast around 3 a.m.

By 6 a.m. the storm was nearly 70 miles south of Fort Fisher, moving north-northeast at about 5 mph.

Warren Lee, head of New Hanover Emergency Management, said Ophelia should bring hurricane-force winds to the county’s coastline around 9 a.m. as it passes by the region offshore.

The strong winds should then stay in the New Hanover and Pender region through about 6 p.m. tonight.

73 fer nw,
Bob N5IET

(old calls KE5CTY - WB5ZQU - WY5L)
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Code may be taking a back seat for now,
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there in the first place is out front of it all.