Frances is still about four days from landfall, and meteorologists are saying that the hurricane could strike anywhere from the Florida Keys to Cape Hatteras on the North Carolina Outer Banks.
If it sticks to the predicted path, the hurricane will make landfall near central Florida and then be swept north by westerlies — strong upper-atmosphere wind currents. Meteorologists call that “recurving” the storm.
The storm is fluctuating between a Category 4 and Category 3 hurricane. North Carolina and Moore County could experience anything from hurricane-force winds to a rain event to temperate weather.
“It’s too early to call,” said Mike Strickler, meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Raleigh.
If Frances does affect Moore County, it will find a land already saturated with rain.
Tropical storm Gaston dumped more than four inches on Moore County over the weekend. It caused the cancellation of an air show at the Moore County Airport and some short and spotty power outages.
A small tornado touched down in neighboring Hoke County and took down a feeder line that served some homes in Moore County, said Andy Honeycutt, community relations manager for Progress Energy. Progress Energy crews were able to restore power quickly, he said.
Wind gusts of 30 to 40 mph took down trees in central North Carolina, Strickler said. Winds of that mild energy usually don’t knock trees over, he said, so the rain had clearly weakened them.
“It made it a little bit easier,” he said.
Honeycutt said Progress Energy will be prepared for whatever Frances brings. The utility company’s meteorologists are saying that they will be able to give a more accurate forecast today, Honeycutt said.
Progress Energy will put crews on notice when the storm becomes more predictable. He said everyone is hoping that the storm stays out to sea, but the company is preparing for any possibility.
“We have to deal with the hand we’ve been dealt,” Honeycutt said. “We hope the hurricane misses. But if it hits, we’ll make sure we have the resources in place to get power on as quickly as possible.”
Meteorologists are also telling people that flooding will be a serious problem wherever the storm makes landfall.
“If it tracks up the East Coast, we could see another rain event,” Strickler said.
Moore County residents aren’t worried about Frances, yet. Larry Ward, manager at Harris Teeter on U.S. 1 in Aberdeen, said on Tuesday that not one customer had come in looking for storm supplies. That could happen later, once more is known about the storm’s path.
“I don’t look for that to show up until about Thursday,” he said.
At the Moore County Airport, Director Michael Nash said that the staff is prepared to get as many of the planes as possible into hangars and arrange for any others to fly to airports out of the storm’s path.
“Our biggest concern is to get the airplanes safe that are outside,” he said.
There are 80 planes based at the Moore County Airport, most of which have hangars, Nash said. The staff there is also preparing to tie down and secure equipment that can’t be moved indoors.
“Other than that, we’ll just do a lot of hoping and praying,” he said.
Preparing for hurricanes is becoming old hat for Moore County this year. In mid-August, Hurricane Charley and tropical storm Bonnie threatened to hit the area with a one-two punch.
Forecasters worried that Bonnie would strike first, saturating the ground and weakening trees. Then Charley would arrive with hurricane winds and bowl them over.
That is the scenario that forecasters and emergency services officials are now fretting over. As Gaston moved out of the state late Sunday and early Monday, attention turned to Hurricane Frances, which is churning toward the United States.
Bonnie lost much of its power and veered off to sea, and Charley stuck to the coast, sparing Moore County and the central part of the state from its wrath.
In preparing for Hurricane Frances, the National Weather Service is advising people to have a family emergency plan.
As with Hurricane Charley, these storms can change paths fast, Strickler said, so people should prepare even if they aren’t in the forecast path.
Outdoor furniture should be brought in and windows should be boarded up, he said. People should have a disaster supply kit and be stocked up on groceries.
“They should prepare to be without power,” he said. “Common sense things mostly.”
