NWS Update as of Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025
What You Need to Do Now (Key Points—Learn More Below)
- Finish Preparing Your Hurricane Kits by Sunday night (or no later than Monday morning) to ensure you have enough water, food, and supplies to last several days and enough medication to last at least two weeks
- Review Your Personal Hurricane Plan with your family in the event you choose to relocate or need to evacuate, and include your pets in all your planning
- Consider Ways to Support Your Situational Safety such as identifying when and where you regularly drive and whether you can modify your plans or routes next week should storm conditions create perilous driving conditions and/or should any roads or highways start flooding
- Continue to Only Follow Credible Sources of Information and make sure you are signed up for the ReadyBrunswick emergency notification system
- Review our answers to frequently asked questions about water and sewer services during tropical events, including questions related to whether to turn off your water if you evacuate, grinder pumps, extended power outages, generators, and more
Brunswick County and the National Weather Service in Wilmington are monitoring Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine (formerly Invest 94L (AL94)). Community members in Brunswick County and the surrounding areas should stay alert and monitor these systems in the event they further develop and require protective actions.
Keep in Mind: Brunswick County is a coastal, low-lying area. Significant rainfall in short periods of time can lead to localized flooding in areas and flooding on roads and highways. If you encounter flooded or barricaded roads, always TURN AROUND, DON’T DROWN!
What to Anticipate: There is still a lot of uncertainty about this system due to several factors that make it difficult for meteorologists to predict its track and intensity. Here are some key points from the latest NWS-Wilmington Update:
- There is a moderate potential for flooding rainfall through this evening, for portions of northeast South Carolina and southeast North Carolina. Potential impacts include flooding of low-lying and poor drainage areas, some road scours are possible along with a few wash-outs, and flooding hazards during nighttime hours, when it is harder to recognize the danger.
- Rainfall amounts from PTC #9 are expected to range from 4 to 6 inches on average. Amounts up to 8 to 10 inches are not out of the realm of possibility, especially if the storm stalls nearby.
- This amount of rainfall occurring in a relatively short period of time will likely lead to flash flooding in some areas.
- Most likely time of arrival of Tropical Storm force (39+ mph) winds is during the day on Tuesday.
This is an evolving event and weather forecasts are subject to change. Remain alert for updates from the NWS-Wilmington at weather.gov/ilm and find the latest weather information at weather.gov/ilm/briefing and weather.gov/ilm/tropical.
Brunswick County will share updates concerning Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine at brunswickcountync.gov/ptc9.
Latest Update from NWS-Wilmington
Latest NWS briefing as of Sept. 27 at 6:30 a.m. / Next NWS briefing planned for Saturday, Sept. 27 at 6 p.m.
Overview
- PTC #9 is located near eastern Cuba and is forecast to move north-northwestward across The Bahamas and toward the Southeast U.S. the first half of next week.
- Interests in the Carolinas should monitor the progress of this system as it is expected to be close to the Southeast U.S.
- While there is significant uncertainty in the future track, the chances of wind, rainfall, and storm surge impacts for a portion of the southeast U.S. coast continue to increase.
Summary of Potential Hazards and Impacts
- Winds: Winds to tropical storm force are possible, and hurricane force winds are not out of the question for portions of the Carolinas early next week. These winds could cause power outages and downed trees/limbs.
- Storm Surge: Storm surge flooding and significant beach erosion is possible for some coastal areas of the Carolinas early next week.
- Rain & Flooding: Flooding from heavy rainfall is likely early next week, especially across low-lying and poor drainage areas, with the heaviest rainfall expected between Monday night and Tuesday night, possibly lasting into late week.
- Tornadoes: There may be a risk of tornadoes, especially Monday night into Tuesday across portions of southeast North Carolina and northeast South Carolina.
- Marine: Dangerous marine/surf conditions are expected to develop Monday, along with strong rip currents through at least first half of next week. Swells from Humberto will also add to the hazardous maritime and beach conditions.
County Operational Updates
- Brunswick County’s Emergency Operations Center is currently activated to Level 3 – Enhanced Monitoring
- All Brunswick County operations are currently running as scheduled (subject to change based on future weather forecasts)
- All Brunswick County youth and adult sports activities for Saturday, Sept. 27 will proceed as scheduled at all county parks (subject to change based on future weather forecasts)
- GFL Environmental will assess road conditions and other factors to determine whether their crews can safely collect curbside trash and recycling carts as normally scheduled. If you have questions about your curbside trash and recycling cart collections, contact GFL Environmental at 910.253.4177 or check their website for updates: gflenv.com/brunswick.
What You Need to Do Now
- Finish Preparing Your Hurricane Kits: Complete all preparations by Sunday night (or no later than Monday morning). In addition to having enough water and food for several days, include your medications (at least two weeks’ worth), health insurance cards, first aid supplies, personal hygiene products, and hand sanitizer. Contact your local pharmacist, doctor, and/or insurance company about getting a refill of your medication prior to the storm arriving.
- Review Your Personal Hurricane Plan: Review and discuss your household hurricane plan with your family or housemates. Identify where you plan to go in the event you choose to relocate or need to evacuate, check your evacuation zone (Know Your Zone) in case an evacuation is issued, choose which route you will take, and discuss how you will communicate with each other throughout the event. Include your pets in all your planning.
- Consider Ways to Support Your Situational Safety: Identify when and where you regularly drive and whether you can modify your plans or routes next week should storm conditions create perilous driving conditions and/or should any roads or highways start flooding.
- Follow Credible Sources of Information: Make sure you are following credible sources of information like NWS-Wilmington, Brunswick County and government officials, and local news outlets. Register or check your account details in the ReadyBrunswick emergency notification system to get the latest NWS weather updates including Flash Flood, Tornado, Marine, and Tropical Storm and Hurricane watches and warnings.
- Review our answers to frequently asked questions about water and sewer services during tropical events: Our FAQs includes answers to questions related to whether to turn off your water if you evacuate, grinder pumps, extended power outages, generators, and more
Best Practices & Safety Reminders
- Register for the ReadyBrunswick emergency notification system
- Remain alert for updates from the NWS-Wilmington at weather.gov/ilm and find the latest weather briefing at weather.gov/ilm/briefing and weather.gov/ilm/tropical
- Have multiple ways to get weather information (local news and radio stations, NOAA weather radios, National Weather Service, emergency alert notifications, etc.)
- Have a plan. Know how you will keep yourself, your family, and your pets safe if flooding is forecast for your area. Make sure you consider your family’s unique needs, including anyone who needs medicine or medical equipment. Know how you’ll contact one another and reconnect if you aren’t together should flooding start.
- Never drive on flooded or barricaded roads—TURN AROUND DON’T DROWN!
Find more preparedness information and resources at brunswickcountync.gov/hurricanes.