Ian will begin its approach toward the Carolinas and will bring a variety of impacts to the area tomorrow (Friday). The updated National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecast has Ian making landfall along South Carolina as a hurricane (Category 1) tomorrow. Please complete all preparations for impacts TODAY.
Potential Impacts/Timing:
- Tropical storm winds from Ian will arrive during the early morning hours Friday along the coast and later in the morning across inland areas. Those winds are expected to produce gusts of 55-65 in coastal areas.
- Surge inundation is likely with each high tide from today through Saturday, with the worst surge expected during high tide Friday (~11:15 AM EDT).
- Major beach erosion is possible with heavy surf and elevated water levels impacting or breaching the dunes with each high tide through Saturday.
- Heavy rainfall is likely, especially on Friday and Friday night. This rainfall could lead to flash flooding, especially near low-lying and other flood-prone locations. 4 to 6 inches is expected.
- Isolated tornadoes are possible, with the risk of developing early Friday morning and persisting into Friday night.
- Hazardous marine conditions are expected across the coastal waters Thursday through Saturday.
For the latest National Weather Service (NWS) briefing go HERE. Impact intensity may increase if this storm takes an eastward shift. This may be evident in tonight’s 6 p.m. NWS briefing, be sure to check the briefing site or NWS Wilmington social media for updates.
Village Operations:
Village offices will be closed tomorrow with remote capable staff working off-island and essential on-island staff working regular and on-call schedules.
The Island Package Center and Post Office will be closed tomorrow. USPS mail arrived as staff was leaving today and that mail and the mail that makes it over by ferry tomorrow (Friday) is expected to be put up tomorrow. UPS and FedEx packages were not delivered today and are not expected to arrive tomorrow due to the suspension of barge service. Those packages are due to arrive on the first barge on Monday.
Ferry Operations:
A few of the ferry runs this morning were suspended and the ferry resumed operations around 11:00 a.m. Due to ongoing impacts from Tropical Storm Ian, Bald Head Island Transportation, Inc. has announced the following:
For Thursday 9/29/22:
The last ferry departure from Deep Point is planned for 6:00 p.m. and the last departure from Bald Head Island is planned for 6:30 p.m.
For Friday 9/30/22:
The contractor ferry is planned to resume operations at 7:30 a.m. and the passenger ferry is planned to resume operations at 8:00 a.m.
All planned departures are subject to change based on weather conditions. Please continue to check Bald Head Island Transportation, Inc.’s website HERE for the latest announcements.
Check out our new media webpage HERE, for instructions on how you can stay informed. This page includes our current Twitter feed so you can see what the Village is posting even if you don’t use social media as well as details on all of the other channels, we use to keep you informed.