Everyone ordered off Wilmington-area beaches in advance of Dorian

Officials on Tuesday issued mandatory evacuation orders for Carolina Beach, Kure Beach, Wrightsville Beach and Figure Eight Island, as of 8 a.m. Wednesday. Voluntary evacuation orders are in place for other low-lying areas of the county.

Dorian is expected to pass 25 miles off the Wilmington coast, but hurricane-force winds extend about 40 miles from the storm's center and tropical storm-force winds about 150 miles, said Steven Still, emergency management director for New Hanover County.

Forecasts call for Dorian to dump 4 to 10 inches of rain on the county, and a 1- to 3-foot storm surge is expected, although it could be higher along the barrier islands, Still said at a news conference.

"All the information we have so far indicates this is not the rain and flood event that we witnessed during Florence," he said, referring to Hurricane Florence last fall, which inundated the region and left much of Wilmington an island for a few days, with all roads into the city under water.

"With that said, we want our residents to be prepared. Don’t be afraid, but be prepared," he added.

The area is still trying to recover from Florence, and Still several times referred to Florence when he was speaking about Dorian's potential impacts.

"It's quite hard to get that hurricane off my heart and mind," he said with a laugh after someone corrected him.

The biggest impact from Dorian is expected to begin at about 3 a.m. Thursday, and the winds and rain should subside by Friday afternoon, Still said.

The storm put a crimp in the plans for people spending Labor Day week at the beach.

"We try to be together once a year. We like the ocean," Shirley Leichner said.

New Hanover County will open two shelters by 10 a.m. Wednesday: Codington Elementary School, at 4321 Carolina Beach Road in Wilmington, and Blair Elementary School, at 6510 Market Street in Wilmington. Each shelter will have about 100 beds, and the one at Blair Elementary will accept pets, Still said. Local transit buses have added stops at each shelter to their routes to help people access them, he said.

The county issued a state of emergency as of 5 p.m. Tuesday, so all county workers can focus on hurricane preparation and recovery, County Manager Chris Coudrey said.

All school-related activities in the county ended at 5 p.m., and schools will remain closed through Friday, officials said.