North Carolina to Practice New Hurricane Evacuation Plan

Emergency managers in 20 of North Carolina’s coastal counties helped create the state’s new hurricane evacuation plan. Now they’re going to put the plan to the test during a rehearsal next month. Will it work?

The Associated Press says the plan includes areas at most risk for flooding from storm surge. The emergency managers developed the plan during a statewide review of regional emergency plans.

“This is one of the most important planning documents developed by any state in the wake of Hurricane Katrina,” Mark Goodman, director of Onslow County Emergency Services, said in a statement.

The May rehearsal, for a theoretical category four storm named “Hurricane Laura,” will mostly be a tabletop exercise run in Raleigh for state and county emergency response officials. Officials also plan to hold mock evacuations from Carteret, Onslow and New Hanover counties to Harnett and Johnston counties.

“The state’s new evacuation plan identifies areas most at risk for storm surge flooding, as well as potential evacuation centers inland. It also includes better tips on evacuating elderly citizens and scripted warnings that officials can use to release information quickly to the public,” AP says.

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