Just passing through

Onslow County authorities are urging residents to remain indoors until storm weather from Hanna passes.

"Stay in place and be safe," Onslow County Sheriff's Col. Mark Shivers said.

The last thing emergency workers and first responders need is "gawkers" in the way, said Onslow County Emergency Management Director Mark Goodman.

The latest forecast from the National Weather Service called for Hanna to make landfall on the northern coast of South Carolina around 2 a.m. Saturday before marching quickly up the Atlantic seaboard and pushing into New England by early Sunday morning.

Reports from an Air Force Reserve hurricane hunter aircraft indicate that the center of Hanna is farther east that earlier reported, according to the NWS.

The latest NWS report has the storm moving toward the northwest at about 20 mph. A hurricane watch remained in effect for Edisto Beach, S.C., to near the Virginia border.

Coastal storm surge flooding of 4 to 6 feet above normal tide levels along with large and dangerous battering waves are expected near and to the east of the path of the center of Hanna, the NWS reported.

"High tide is not an issue here because of timing," Goodman said, but he added that the storm is bringing with it high water, rip currents and wave surges.

The storm's significant shift to the left puts more land space under the storm, which means Onslow County will be catching the right front quadrant of the hurricane - greatly increasing the likelihood of tornadoes.

Goodman stressed that residents should monitor the weather.

"I cannot emphasize too much that people need a radio that receives alerts from (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)," he said.

The county is under curfew from 7:30 p.m. Friday until dawn Saturday.

But until the danger passes, only law enforcement, emergency services personnel, emergency utility workers, elected and appointed county and municipal officials and persons on official travel between home and business or for medial emergencies should be out during the curfew, emergency officials said.

Other Onslow County municipalities including Holly Ridge, Richlands and Swansboro joined county officials in declaring a state of emergency and a curfew.

The Onslow County Emergency Operations Center has been up and running since noon Friday. The Onslow County Board of Commissioner declared a state of emergency for the county at 1:30 p.m. Thursday.

As soon as the storm passes, emergency management will be out assessing damage, Goodman said. Emergency officials were busy all day with last minute preparations. Red Cross volunteers were prepping schools for use as shelters.

The last flight out of Albert J Ellis Airport was scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday, said Airport Director Jerry Vickers. They are tentatively scheduled to reopen at 10 a.m. Saturday.

The N.C. Department of Transportation will close the Surf City Swing Bridge to waterway traffic when winds reached a sustained 30 mph, said Amanda Glynn, a Div. 3 bridge maintenance engineer. Surf City police said the bridge will remain open to vehicular traffic.

DOT officials said they were ready to enter Onslow County "full force" to clear and repair any damaged roads.

The Camp Lejeune EOC activated at 8 a.m., and base shelters opened at midday. Base officials said equipment, personnel and supplies were ready.

Base residents should stay indoors and use news media outlets for information, base officials said.

Emergency Services remained open, but all Naval Hospital medical clinics closed at 4 p.m. Friday.

Onslow Memorial Hospital has emergency generator power that is "measured in days not hours," hospital spokesman Tim Strickland said. "We could probably go about two weeks. We've got almost 30,000 gallons of fuel oil."

Progress Energy has out-of-area repair crews standing by to assist in Onslow County, said Bob Dupuis, an account executive with the company.

The energy provider is asking any customer with a power outage to call 1-800-419-6356 and not tie up 911.

Carteret-Craven Electric Cooperative Electric is asking customers to call 252- 247-3107 to report outages.

State environmental health officials are advising coastal residents to take precautions to keep their drinking water safe.

Flooded public and private wells, flooded treatment plants and pressure losses from broken lines and lost electrical power greatly increase the risk from contaminated water, according to officials with the N.C. Division of Environmental Health.

"If you lose power, conserve water until you know your water system is up and running," said Jessica Miles, chief of the Public Water Supply section in the N.C. Division of Environmental Health. "If public water supplies lost power too, they may be operating on limited emergency systems until power is restored and testing is performed. There are certain steps you can follow to protect your health and the health of your family if water pressure to your house was lost or the well has been flooded."

Health officials recommend boiling all water used for drinking, cooking, brushing teeth, making ice and washing hands, or using bottled or stored water.

Hanna is the first major storm of the year for Onslow County and emergency officials hope the mobilization will help train workers and educate the public for future events.

The bigger worry is the ferocious-looking Hurricane Ike, which weakened to a Category 3 storm early Friday as it headed toward the Bahamas.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact crime reporter Lindell Kay at 910-219-8456. Read Lindell's blog at http://onslowcrime.encblogs.com.