Saturday marks the 6 year anniversary of Hurricane Florence

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — Hurricane Florence barreled through the Cape Fear 6 years ago, causing nearly 24 billion dollars in damage in North Carolina. 

Alicia Rheel, head of Island Montessori Charter School remembers Florence all too well. 

“A lot of our families and staff members were without power for up to two weeks. So, our school had reopened. Our school had power but a lot of our families, some of them were not even in their own home because they had flooding and damage in their homes. So, we really had to work to help those families as well,” Rheel said. 

Florence helped shape how New Hanover County handles disasters now. 

One of the big improvements is the new emergency operations center, which officials say is more resilient and equipped to help them serve the community better before, during and after a storm. 

Anna McRay, assistant director of emergency management for New Hanover Count says Hurricane Florence also showcased how everyone came together to help get things back to normal. 

“This community is so strong and as difficult as Florence was it really did highlight the resiliency and ability to bounce back quickly. There are so many good neighbors here that take care of each other and so many good non-profit partners and people that provide services in the community that all come together. And we still meet through our New Hanover disaster coalition and still get to plan with these partners to plan for the next storm because we know it is not a matter of if…it is a matter of when,” McRay said. 

McRay adds it is important that people do not focus as much on the category but focus on the potential impacts and all the other things that can happen.