RALEIGH — As the National Weather Service continues to track the path of Hurricane Irma, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper issued an update on Friday.
Cooper said that while the latest projections now indicate North Carolina will see a less severe impact, the state’s emergency management resources are still on high alert. Cooper added that those resources would be shifted from eastern North Carolina towards the central and particularly the western area of the state.
Emergency Management Director Mike Sprayberry said the state would concentrate on two staging areas in Asheville and Greensboro. FEMA was currently setting up an incident support base at Fort Bragg, according to Sprayberry; FEMA is preparing to provide food and shelter as well as to work alongside state emergency management teams.
In terms of evacuations ahead of Irma’s impact, Sprayberry said that local authorities would be in charge of calling for evacuations if, when and where necessary.
Tim Little, with the North Carolina Department of Transportation, said despite increased traffic on some of the state’s highways – including traffic from southern states heading north – there were no current plans to institute emergency highway re-routings or lane-direction changes.
You can watch the full Friday briefing here.
