Heavy Rain/Wind Over ENC
Hurricane Matthew has dropped several inches of rain over central and eastern North Carolina. The heavy rain is still occurring as of this post but the totals so far are extremely high. The heavy rain began over central NC with moderate to heavy rain for most of the day dropping 5-10″ and counting. Eastern NC is currently experiencing very heavy rainfall with over 8.5″ today in Greenville, NC (9.5″ including last night). These heavy rain bands are producing tropical storm force winds with gusts over 50 mph at some point over the area.
Heavy rain will remain over the area moving moving eastward around Matthew to the south. An extra 3-4″ inches over the coastal plain and another 5-6″ over the coast can be expected over the next couple of hours.
Roads have become heavily flooded and if you do not have to be out stay home! Driving over flooded roads is dangerous, driving at night is even more dangerous.
Once the storm pushes east out of the area, the impacts will still linger for the remainder of the week as rivers and creeks flood to major levels. At this point, every river will experience flooding and some will be major. If you live in flood prone areas, take action now. The flood waters will rise quickly Sunday and there will be little time to prepare.
I wish I had a little more time for further updates but currently experiencing tropical storm force winds and sound like trees are starting to fall nearby. I will update tomorrow when, I hope, things quiet down.