BURGAW, N.C. � Johnny Brown sat in a travel trailer parked behind his gutted Whitestocking Road home Monday afternoon, watching the 12 o'clock news describe another hurricane making its way toward the North Carolina coast.
Brown and his wife, Catrelia, rebuilt their home after it flooded during Hurricane Floyd. And they are in the middle of rebuilding it again after last fall's Florence once again brought catastrophic flooding to Pender County and much of Eastern North Carolina.
Catrelia Brown said, "Every test is a testimony, so I'm just trying to do the best I can, and I know the Lord will work it out eventually. When we get back in if we don't get back in the whole house, we can at least get in part of it: _a kitchen, bath, sitting area, a bedroom."
Throughout Southeastern North Carolina, the long Labor Day weekend has been spent preparing for Dorian, less than a year after Florence. Membership stores have sold out of bread and bottled water, pickup trucks loaded down with wooden boards are increasingly common and the televisions at bars are tuned into The Weather Channel as frequently as ESPN.
Southeastern North Carolina governments and schools began announcing closures Monday, with New Hanover County announcing offices will be closed until further notice and its emergency operations center opened at 7 a.m. Monday. The University of North Carolina Wilmington, which sustained heavy wind and rain damage during Florence, announced classes are canceled for the rest of the week and that all students must be off campus by 5 p.m. Tuesday.
The NC State Ports Authority announced ports in Wilmington and Morehead City will be closed to commercial traffic starting Wednesday.
Bill Saffo, Wilmington's longtime mayor, said New Hanover County, town and city officials will meet Tuesday morning to likely sign a formal emergency declaration and to determine which, if any, areas should be subject to voluntary or mandatory evacuations. Saffo also said a scheduled city council meeting would be canceled.
Wilmington officials were working Monday to position assets in flood-prone areas, clean out storm drains and lower retention ponds that are expected to flood.
"We're as prepared as prepared can be. Hopefully it will stay offshore and not hurt us as it has in the past, but these things are unpredictable," Saffo said. "Any deviation either way could be devastating or be a good thing for us. It's going to be close enough where we are going to see damage of some sort, probably more wind-related than water-related at this point."
Dare County has ordered a mandatory evacuation of all nonresidents beginning at noon Tuesday, followed by a mandatory evacuation of all residents beginning at 6 a.m. Wednesday.
Dorian's timing, less than 12 months after Florence is unfortunate, Saffo said, adding, "We've still got people who don't have all their repairs done, and we still have tarps around here."
Residents who still have tarps on their roofs or who are living in trailers, Saffo said, will likely be encouraged to head to shelters, which could open in New Hanover County as early as Tuesday evening.
Back on Whitestocking Road, the Browns have used an insurance payout to start rebuilding their gutted home. Electric wiring has been run and the plumbing is in, along with heat and air.
In front of their home are a series of signs simultaneously pleading for help for the people who live on the road and celebrating the holidays that have passed. There are yard signs for the Fourth of July and for St. Patrick's Day. The one for Easter says, "Easter is a season of hope. Please help rebuild Whitestocking homes."
Catrelia Brown has found the process difficult, in part, due to her and her husband's age: She is 75, and Johnny is 79. Many family members are unavailable to help because they are managing their own recoveries.
Immediately after Florence, the Browns rented an apartment in Wilmington while they worked through insurance and applying for various forms of assistance. But Brown said she was not used to driving long distances or the comparatively heavy New Hanover County traffic, both of which caused more stress until someone donated the travel trailer.
Brown also feels there has been less help available after Florence than Floyd. She discussed town hall-style meetings where various groups discuss available resources.
"You go out there and everybody writes their name on a pad and they talk and then they talk and tell you all the resources that are coming in, then you don't hear anything from them," she said, adding that she became so frustrated with the process that she simply stopped giving out personal information when representatives of different groups asked.
As Dorian turns north, the Browns plan to keep a close eye on the local TV stations, and they will leave if an evacuation order is declared for the low-lying parts of Pender County. The person they rented from after Florence still has a vacancy and is willing to let them rent again, if necessary.
"I'm not just running just because there's a storm," Brown said. "If I see that we need to leave, I'll leave."
