Road Conditions in NC after Hurricane Florence

Hurricane Florence was up there as one of the more devastating and destructive natural disasters of the last few years. Luckily, most people were able to get ahead of the storm and leave Wilmington before becoming trapped by massive flooding. Those people now wish to return to check on their homes and belongings, and to try to save what they can before the water washes everything away.

Hurricane Florence did a number on the infrastructure of North Carolina, as could be expected. As of Tuesday, September 18th, 255 North Carolina roads remained inaccessible, which was actually an improvement from the 356 road closures reported just the day before.

"Roads are still dangerous. And new road closings are still happening."Gov. Roy Cooper, during a briefing on Tuesday

Entire counties were being cut off from access. Places like Pender, New Hanover, and Brunswick counties were all inaccessible to road traffic. There were ways to drive into Wilmington, but authorities were not disclosing those locations to the public. They wanted to keep the routes open for first responders. The routes also were not safe: flooded roads have the potential to crumble underneath their own weight, as shown in the image above.

We also wouldn't advise attempting back roads. Hundreds of those were closed due to flooding as well, and you might find yourself trapped by water without realizing it.

"We understand that many people are anxious to return home or visit property they have down east. However, road conditions are still constantly changing as rivers and creeks rise, and more trees and power lines go down. For that reason we are still asking people to stay off the roads in the heavily impacted areas for their safety, and to allow first responders, power crews, DOT crews and others involved in recovery to get to those areas to make sure they are indeed safe."NCDOT spokesman Steve Abbott, in an email