Moving to Wilmington area.

[hsthompson]

Time has come to move from Virginia. The cost of housing has gone way up. I now own a townhouse which i will be selling and using that money to buy a house in Leland. Now with the Katrina mess going about i'm more concerned with the weather near Wilmington. Do many hurricanes come through Wilmington enough to ruin your home? How much flooding of homes happens? Is hurricane insurance expensive? What exactly is Wilimington's elevation? Any input appreciated. Thanks.

[NCMike1981]

I lived in Wilmington for a few years, don't ask me how I know this but the elevation of Wilmington in downtown is 25 feet. It's lower towards the beach, and there may be a few "hills" higher around town away from the coast. I went through several hurricanes there, and I pretty much just noticed downed powerlines and long leaf pines, those damn trees are everywhere down there and are extremely flimsy in a storm. I would mainly be concerned if I were buying a home on Wrightsville or Carolina Beach, during hurricanes they actually close the islands off to traffic. Over in Leland you are pretty far inland.

I've heard that little town has grown alot from when I moved in 2002 and it just had a Food Lion, Piggly Wiggly, Hardees, McDonalds and some small shops off the 1 main road in town. Everytime you drive towards Wilmington from Leland you'll get a view of downtown's "skyline", the lights of the city also look kind of impressive at night, especailly if you have been driving through the woods of Brunswick County for a while.

You'll experience a hurricane every few years down there, but really the chances of Wilmington (or Leland) washing away into the Ocean is pretty low. Just don't buy oceanfront property

[Tayfromcarolina]

Yeah just avoid the ocean front otherwise you should be good to go. A major hurricane only threatens every 5 years or so and even then most go the other way.

[urbanesq]

Wilmington is a great town, and the weather is usually pretty good (I was there for work yesterday and it was a bit on the muggy side-- which is typical).

The hurricanes are a high probablity, but they don't usually wipe everything out. Floyd flooded much of Eastern NC, but not in the Wilmington area so much.

We lived in Southport many years ago (which is in Brunswick County, like Leland) and liked it ok. Traffic in and out of Wilmington from that side should get better once they open the 17 bypass. Right now I understand it get tough.

If your property isn't in a flood zone, you shouldn't have to worry about flooding. I have no idea how much hurricane coverage is, but I doubt it adds that much to your premium.

[RaleighHeelsfan]

Hurricanes happen often of late in Wilmington. You could have a couple a year in fact. At the same time, you could go 15 years without one. (they are watching one right now)

The bad damage from the storms mainly happens right along the coastline. (stormsurge) And maybe right along the Cape fear in the lower lying areas. Inland, the only thing you will need to worry about, is trees falling. And if you have those ugly weak pine trees in your yard...they will fall. It is possible for a cat 5 to hit Wilmington. If that happens...watch out no matter where you are at.

It snows once to twice a year. It gets cold in spells then becomes mild.

Downtown Wilmington is a great place, one of my favorite places in North Carolina. So I say its worth it!

[hsthompson]

Thanks for the replies. I'll for sure make a point to buy a house w/o a pine tree around it. Leland will be getting a Super Wal-Mart and Lowes in 2006. Thats good because i work at Lowes. I went down to Wilmington in August and the muggy weather isn't any different than it is here in Va. While i was down there the big talk was the opening of some new highway bypass that went around Wilmington. It only took me 20 min. to get from Leland to Ramada Inn on Rt.17. I was told once that new bypass opened up it would only take 10 min. Never did get to see downtown Wilmington, guess its because of the beach thing. I'm sure i'll have more questions later on so stick around all. Thanks.

[triadcat]

I like pine trees.....I think the long leaf pines have character.

The vegetation and topography in the state changes so much it makes it very unique and interesting.

[JunktionFET]

Downtown Wilimington is mostly built on hilly bluffs of the Cape Fear River and is relatively safe from flooding unless the river is absolutely blasted upstream. I won't say that it can't flood, but I suspect it requires remarkable cirumstances. The marshland on the west side of the river tends to help protect the surrounding high ground. The downtown is located several miles from the actual ocean (around 20 miles?), though suburban sprawl has pushed the city limits out closer to the intracoastal waterway and atlantic ocean.

New Hanover county is growing at a quick pace and I'm sure the real estate market is hot. A lot of great developments are either proposed or being built. The film industry as well as other growing industries has really boosted Wilmington in the past couple of years. I think it is evolving into a great city.

[cranberries]

Time has come to move from Virginia. The cost of housing has gone way up. I now own a townhouse which i will be selling and using that money to buy a house in Leland. Now with the Katrina mess going about i'm more concerned with the weather near Wilmington. Do many hurricanes come through Wilmington enough to ruin your home? How much flooding of homes happens? Is hurricane insurance expensive? What exactly is Wilimington's elevation? Any input appreciated. Thanks.

We just bought a house near downtown Wilmington as well.

We are from the West Coast where there are tons of beaches for sunbathing. Does anyone know of one for nude sunbathing - just sunbathing - not chasing people,etc. Either a beach or lake area?

We have 7 here and will miss them. (moving in three weeks)

[lma1973]

Wilmington is awesome...the weather is nice. In the winter it runs 7-9 degrees warmer than it does here in Raleigh. A cold 48 degree day here in Raleigh and its a tolerable pushing 60 down there. I went through like 6 hurricanes in 5 years there, but its nothing to be scared of...you actually begin to get used to it and have parties with your neighbors while boarding up each others homes and getting ready for the hit.

[cranberries]

Wilmington is awesome...the weather is nice. In the winter it runs 7-9 degrees warmer than it does here in Raleigh. A cold 48 degree day here in Raleigh and its a tolerable pushing 60 down there. I went through like 6 hurricanes in 5 years there, but its nothing to be scared of...you actually begin to get used to it and have parties with your neighbors while boarding up each others homes and getting ready for the hit.

Currently I am in San Francisco - we have earthquakes here. Although we have smaller tremble's now and then 4.0 etc. We are waiting for the next huge 9.0 or something coming. There are no warnings - boom, the entire room is shaking - so if I can tollerate that, I guess a pre-warned hurricane isn't too bad. I was in Charlotte when Hugo came tearing through. Next one I will just go on vacation and leave for awhile.