Brighter forecast made for Wicomico County residents as Hurricane Florence nears

SALISBURY, Md. – “Preparedness is something that is ongoing and we can’t not pay attention to it and especially during this time of the year,” said Director of the Wicomico County Emergency Services, David Shipley.

Over the past couple of days, Wicomico County emergency officials have been working around the clock tracking Hurricane Florence, and the potential damage it could cause to the eastern shore.

“We were meeting daily with weather forecasters and every time we met with them our plans had to change to address the potential impact,” said Shipley.

But after recent reports, Wicomico County officials had some good news to share with residents in the area.

“Right now, Maryland has seemed to do better because the storms seems to be going a little bit further south and that’s even better for Wicomico County and the eastern shore,” said Wicomico County Executive Bob Culver.

With the movement of the hurricane, Culver says the weather we’ll see, won’t be as severe.

“We’re going to have normal high tide or flood tide, moon tide is what we’re going to have now and that’s all it’s going to be. We will experience some winds, we’ll experience rain all weekend so it’s just going to be an ugly weekend,” said Culver.

But we’re not out of the woods just yet, officials say residents should still prepare for the worst but hope for the best.

“I bought some water, plenty of water, bottles of water, and gasoline for my generator. I put stuff away that would blow away,” said Salisbury resident Paul Sturgis.

And although officials say we might be in the clear, they’re still urging residents to be alert and make responsible decisions.

“We’ll all get through this fairly well and by Monday the sun will be shining again and we’ll all be happy,” said Culver.

Culver adds that as of now they will not be opening any shelters, but that could change as they continue to monitor the storm over the next 24 hours.