With much of Mathews County under a mandatory evacuation order, many residents were encouraged to leave the area Tuesday morning in advance of Hurricane Florence, as the monster storm closed in on the North Carolina coast.

Mathews County’s emergency operations center team held a meeting Tuesday morning to determine what actions to take in the wake of Gov. Ralph Northam’s order establishing a statewide mandatory evacuation of flood Zone A. Most of Mathews County lies in Zone A.

Y shelter should be a last resort

County Administrator Mindy Conner said that residents who follow the governor’s orders to evacuate should use the county’s new emergency shelter at the YMCA on Cricket Hill Road only as a last resort.

She said the building has limited capacity and that residents who have the option of staying with friends or relatives should do so. Anyone who needs to use the shelter should bring their own bedding, medications, food and water, said Conner, and should p...