Wrightsville Beach quiet now as Hurricane Dorian inches closer to NC coast

By Amanda Lamb, WRAL reporter

Wrightsville Beach, N.C. — All of the beaches in New Hanover County were quiet Wednesday night after a mandatory evacuation. Now comes the wait.

Evacuations because of approaching Hurricane Dorian went very smoothly from Wrightsville Beach. With memories of last year’s impact by Hurricane Florence and the damage that storm caused, all over New Hanover County, no one feels immune. Everyone here was preparing for Dorian.

Usually people have to drive over a bridge to get to Wrightsville Beach. Wednesday, as part of the mandatory evacuation, they were leaving. Year-round resident Erin Collins enjoyed a last walk with her son and dog Harry just before heading inland.

“Enjoying the last … the emptiness of the beach,” Collins said. “It’s actually really nice out here right now.”

People in Wilmington were busy Wednesday preparing for Dorian. Workers were even removing trees that could potentially fall and create more damage due to the hurricane. Marcley’s tree removal company has been getting calls around the clock to get rid of trees that could fall on homes during the storm.

“A saturated ground plus high wind equals uprooted trees,” said Kris Marcley of Klimb Pro Expert Tree Care. “Just getting the dangerous trees down that are close to houses. Stacking it to the side. That way we can get to as many people as possible.”

Contractor Mark Marcley with Constructive Solutions is still working on some homes that were damaged during Florence.

“There are homes in this neighborhood that have tarps from last year’s hurricane,” Marcley said.

One home he was working on was recently hit by lightning and was still under repair. Marcley was covering it with tarps and securing it with pieces of wood in preparation for Dorian.

“I am insuring that I’m not going to have to get up here in the rain when I get a phone call,” Marcley said. “‘Mark the tarp is blowing off, you need to re-do this’.”

Marcley advises everyone to have tarps on hand for after the storm.

“Insurance companies want you to tarp as soon as possible, stop the bleeding as they say, no matter what it takes,” Marcley said.