A former resident of Gainesville, who has lived on the North Carolina coast for the past eight years, left his home in Atlantic Beach Thursday morning and plans to ride out Hurricane Florence about three miles away in Morehead City.
Bucky Springle, 71, is a retired real estate broker, who worked for the Norton Agency while in Gainesville.
Thursday morning, he answered a few questions from AccessWDUN about the pending storm and how it is affecting him.
*When did you leave home and how long did it take you to get to Morehead City? I left Atlantic Beach this morning, drove across the bridge to Morehead City. It took me 5 minutes to get here.
*What is the mood there? Everybody’s mood is great, just waiting for the storm to be over.
*What impacts from the storm is Morehead City expected to feel and how does that compare with what Atlantic Beach is expecting? Conditions will be about the same, but I live in a second story condo on a canal off the sound, so surge was a concern for first-floor units. Most people who own second-floor units will ride out the storm.
*Have you given any thoughts to moving farther inland? No. Flooding there will be a lot worse than here.
*You've been living there for eight years. Have you ever evacuated in the face of a hurricane? Never evacuated for a hurricane since I lived here.
*What was the worst of the storms that you have lived through since moving to Atlantic Beach? Irene in 2011. There was water damage in the first floor condos where I live.
*What was the mood in Atlantic Beach as the storm moved closer and closer and grew in intensity? People were worried when the storm was a Cat 4 and a friend who lives directly on the oceanfront took his 92-year-old mother 35 miles inland to New Bern.
*What precautions did you take before leaving your home? I cleaned out the refrigerator and put everything in a cooler, threw the breakers and locked the doors.
*When do you expect to be able to return home? I hope I can get back to the beach by Saturday, Sunday at the latest.
Springle says waiting on a hurricane is "worst than watching paint dry. Nothing open, nothing to do."
