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People in Virginia Beach torn on whether to go ahead of Florence

Posted at 1:26 PM, Sep 12, 2018
and last updated 2018-09-12 19:32:30-04

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- Thirty-six hours before catastrophic Hurricane Florence was predicted to make landfall, Virginia Beach residents and visitors awoke to blue skies and calm conditions.

In fact, several surfers, who came to the beach Wednesday to catch bigger waves ahead of the hurricane, said they were disappointed.

"Honestly a little smaller than I was hoping for. It's not really too good. The winds kind of choppy, the swells like a little smaller than yesterday actually honestly," said surfer Eli Symons.

His friend, Stevie Grulich also said he was disappointed.

The track of Hurricane Florence drifted southward again overnight into Wednesday morning. Much of Hampton Roads and parts of northeastern North Carolina are no longer in the storm’s forecast cone.

"I think we just thought there were going to be some waves because of the hurricane but it's not too good today," said Grulich.

But while some people were busy catching waves and taking a stroll on the boardwalk, others living just blocks away were being told to leave.

Tuesday Governor Ralph Northam announced a mandatory evacuation order for Zone A due to concerns of flooding.

The city also dumped truck upon truck filled with sand for people to make sandbags to protect their homes.

Helen Walters and her husband were vacationing from Pearisburg, Virginia, and had to cut their vacation short.

"We had already made the reservations, didn't want to cancel, so we just came on down and were hoping for the best. So yesterday we decided to get out of dodge while we could," said Walters. "It's a big storm. You can't argue with mother nature."

In Virginia Beach, the first shelter is scheduled to open at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Kellum High School.

Hurricane Florence's greatest impact will still be along the coasts of both North and South Carolina late Thursday night through Saturday.

Depend on CBS 6 News and WTVR.com for complete coverage of Florence. Click here to track the storm with the CBS 6 Interactive Hurricane Tracker

Depend on the CBS 6 Weather Authority

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