Beaufort County Emergency Management is warning people to prepare for more rain and the minor flooding that’s going to accompany it.

“The National Weather Service has said — inland, for us — we’ll get probably anywhere from six to eight more inches from now until Monday,” said Lisa Respess, Beaufort County Emergency Management technician.

Respess said overnight rainfall caused some county roads to flood Friday, but higher water is expected over the weekend.

“It really hasn’t peaked yet. I’m expecting, probably by Saturday night, Sunday morning, we’re going to be at the highest. … We’re not expecting evacuation-type flooding. This is going to be more of an inconvenience-type flooding.”

Eastern North Carolina remains under an NWS-issued flood watch due the amount of rain the region has seen over the past week. In Beaufort County, localized rainfall amounts vary from five to nine inches.

Early Friday morning, Washington Police were blocking off flooded streets in areas from Fourth Street to 13^th Street, and Trade to Hudnell streets, though by early afternoon the water had receded, according to Washington Police and Fire Services Director Stacy Drakeford. Drakeford said the flooding was limited to the usual places that see high water within the city, but with more rain in the future, the department is “preparing for the worst, hoping for the best. … We really don’t know exactly what’s going to come our way tonight, tomorrow and Sunday.”

Belhaven has experienced flooding over the past week, but it’s nothing the town can’t handle, according to Belhaven town manager Woody Jarvis.

“We can handle a lot of rain as long as the wind is blowing the right way,” Jarvis said. “We’re tired of it, but there’s not much we can do about it.”

Jarvis said town residents are breathing a big sigh of relief that category 4 Hurricane Joaquin, a potential threat to eastern North Carolina, appears to be heading out into the Atlantic, but there won’t be rest until Joaquin makes its way north of the state. Jarvis pointed out that in situations like this, it’s sometimes not the rain and standing water that causes property damage, but those who are out and about in it.

“I think the work thing is we have a lot of people out looking for high water and they have a tendency to drive faster than they ought to,” Jarvis said.

Drivers who take a run at standing water leave a wake behind them, which can propel water into homes or over the thresholds of businesses.

“We don’t know sometimes whether to put up high water sign or no wake signs,” Jarvis said.

Officials are relieved that despite the amount of rain, there’s been limited flooding so far, an outcome attributed to manner in which the rain has been delivered, Respess said.

“The fortunate part is that it’s pretty much been a steady rain,” Respess said. “As long as it comes at a pretty steady pace, we can handle it. It’s only when it comes as bands, as heavy downpours, that we’re in trouble.”

Respess said there are no plans to open any shelters over the weekend, but warned residents to take precautions.

“If you live in an area that’s prone to flooding — if we’ve had five inches of rain in the past and you had a foot of water in your yard — if you know that, you may want to move your car. Take precautions for minor flooding; not anything major, just historically what you’ve had in the past with minor flooding,” Respess said.