North Raleigh Today

As the remnants of Hurricane Ian bear down on the Carolinas, Triangle-area officials are taking precautions to alleviate any expected flooding as the storm dumps inches of rain over the state.

Workers are lowering the water level of Lake Jordan by about a foot a day, so run-off has someplace to go. Emergency management officials are keeping an eye on the predicted storm track and will take similar action at other lakes as needed.

The action “gives a lot of new capacity for flood warning and alert,” Keith Acree, North Carolina Emergency Management spokesperson, told WTVD. 

Elsewhere, city workers in Raleigh have cleared storm drains to minimize clogging so the deluge of water can drain correctly.

The city and state also will see how new devices will help officials spot trouble early. 

Raleigh has recently installed road cameras in flood-prone areas — allowing city workers to track water levels. The state, meanwhile, will see how 400 river gauges across the state do their jobs. 

“Just abilities for local community communities to have better information to base decisions on know when water levels are rising in their areas and when they need to take actions to protect maybe their infrastructure to order evacuations,” Acree said in the report.

Emergency management officials reminded residents that time is running out to make sure community members were prepared to ride out the storm. Friday should still provide some time to go to stores for last-minute items, but once the wind and rain pick up, officials say to hunker down.

The Office of Emergency Management coordinates disaster planning efforts and training of city employees to strengthen preparedness, response and recovery during disasters.