Fix in place to protect water main after Hurricane Florence

Government officials in New Hanover County have voiced concerns about a water main that was in danger of breaking after Hurricane Florence, but utility officials say the water supply is now safe.

“We’ve got a raw transmission line that we’re concerned about on 421, where there was a washout, which provides about two-thirds of the water for this area that we’re really concerned about right now, that we’re trying to shore up,” Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo told sister-station WRAL. 

According to Cape Fear Public Utility Authority Executive Director Jim Flechtner, crews worked overnight Friday and into Saturday morning to place material around the pipe in question to protect it from the washout and erosion on Highway 421.

Flechtner explained the pipe belongs to the Lower Cape Fear Water and Sewer Authority, but they could not access it so crews from CFPUA added the temporary fix until LCFWSA crews could get to it and add a permanent fix.

The city’s water supply is now safe, according to Flechtner, but had the pipe broken, anyone serviced by the Sweeny Water Treatment plant would have been impacted. 

Water has been rushing across Highway 421 at the New Hanover and Pender county line. The water is pooling from the Northeast Cape Fear River and Black River, causing parts of the highway to cave in.

Both sides of 421 are blocked off at this time, and authorities are urging people to stay behind the barricades, even on foot.

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