Hurricane Matthew is in the recent past. Many residents breathed a sigh of relief as it skirted past the coast — ferocious, yes; damaging, not so much. With one notable exception — power to many Washington Utilities customers — Matthew seemed a bit run-of-the-mill.

That will change on Wednesday. Matthew’s effects will be felt, as the many, many inches of rain eastern North Carolina saw over the weekend begin making their way from west to east, on the way out to sea.

Washington will flood.

County officials are telling people that this flooding will be like the flooding that followed Hurricane Floyd in 1999. For those readers who did not live here then but lived here during Hurricane Irene in 2011, here’s a comparison.

During Hurricane Irene, the Pamlico River was 7.5 feet above normal. In the flooding after Hurricane Floyd, the river was 8.14 feet above normal. Flooding from Hurricane Irene lasted through the storm itself, then receded as it passed. Flooding from Hurricane Floyd started days after the actual weather event and the river stayed at its peak for three days. Be prepared — this is what county officials are telling people. What happened in Floyd will happen again starting on Wednesday.

If a home flooded during Floyd, or its residents were trapped because of floodwaters, that home will likely flood again, and those people will be trapped again. Go ahead and get somewhere safe. The last thing county first responders need during a major emergency is to rescue people who should have been proactive and rescued themselves before the water started to rise. Another thing first responders don’t need to deal with while negotiating the coming flood of this magnitude is disaster tourism — those who ride around in their vehicles to “ooh” and “ah” over the high water; who may, on a whim, drive through a flooded roadway, just for fun.

The roads are dangerous. Water on roads is dangerous. In North Carolina, there were 10 deaths related to Hurricane Matthew over the weekend. Nine of those 10 people died because they were out driving through water.

Yet another thing first responders don’t need to deal with while dealing with a real emergency is accidents caused by people who see a non-working traffic light as synonymous with a green light. The problem is when two vehicles approach an intersection at right angles and neither have a red light. A collision ensues, because both drivers assumed no light is a green light. They were both wrong and now have the damage to prove it.

Each intersection with a non-working traffic light should be treated as a four-way stop, even if there are no other cars there. Just stop. Be patient. Avoid the collision and the 911 call that will pull first responders away from getting this county through a couple of days of flooding.