Before the second storm made landfall in South Carolina on Friday morning, the famous “spaghetti graph” meteorologists use to track the storm’s path was unsure where Ian would go after hitting North Carolina.
Saturday morning, residents of Craven County got their answer.
The expression “calm after the storm” was the definition of what the weather looked and felt like as Ian’s remains cleared Friday evening, giving residents a perfect fall-like start to the weekend.
While Ian was nothing compared to New Bern’s past storms, it called emergency responders into action and was a strong reminder of what hurricanes can bring to eastern North Carolina.
Crews from the New Bern Fire and Rescue Department were dispatched around 12:30 p.m. Fire and rescue crews used the boat launch to reach the docked boat at Union Point Park near the Comfort Suites Hotel as two crews battled elements of Hurricane Ian.
Upon arrival at Union Point, the boat appeared to have been shaken, but no damage appeared to have been done.
“Basically, someone tried to lift the storm on the boat,” New Bern Fire Chief Robert Boyd said. “It came untouched and hit the bridge and now it’s bringing us back.”
The boat is believed to have come from local marinas when it was put into gear at Lawson Creek Park. The US Coast Guard is expected to recover the boat.
The rest of the weekend is expected to be partly cloudy with highs in the mid 70s and low to upper 60s and low 50s.
Most businesses in New Bern were operating as normal throughout Friday and expected to wait until the weekend. Michelle Lynn, owner of Country Biscuits, said she will be operating regular business hours today and tomorrow.
“We are open and business is steady,” she said. “Lots of drive-thru and online orders. We’ll open early tomorrow at 5am, even if it’s raining.”
Erica Hodges, owner of River Brewing Wines and Creamery, said they will also be open regular hours. “Business has been very slow, but we have no plans to close.”
The rest of the weekend is expected to be partly cloudy with highs in the mid 70s and low to upper 60s and low 50s.
