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Officials say hurricane preparedness program should raise awareness of risks, speed evacuations

State emergency management officials are creating a program to help keep people safe when the next hurricane hits.

Posted Updated

By
Laura Leslie
, WRAL Capitol Bureau chief
RALEIGH, N.C. — State emergency management officials are creating a program to help keep people safe when the next hurricane hits.

The "Know Your Zone" program, which will be rolled out next year, will inform residents and visitors about storm surge and flooding risks during a hurricane and help them figure out whether they need to evacuate.

County emergency officials make decisions about evacuation areas during hurricanes, and most already have some zones set up. But they're not always able to get that information out to the public, especially during a storm.

State emergency management officials will standardize those local zones, using landmarks and major roads as boundaries, and help get the message out online and in the media as quickly as possible.

"The reason that we have evacuations is not because of wind, it’s because of water," said Katie Webster, a meteorologist with the state Emergency Management Division. "What we’re trying to do is to help people understand when they need to run from the water."

Officials are looking at launching a website where people can enter their address to see if they need to evacuate or a phone or text message system to convey such information, Webster said.

"What we know is that we have a lot of tourists in North Carolina, and in the middle of summer, you don't want to leave. But sometimes conditions would warrant that decision to be made to stay safe," she said. "So, how do you reach all populations?"

Evacuations during storms also might be easier with the zone maps in place because people who don't need to leave will be less likely to do so, easing traffic backups for those who do.

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