LAURINBURG — As the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Florence approaches, the area is in the “Cone of Uncertainty” as Hurricane Dorian approaches the southeastern East Coast.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Dorian was slowly moving up the coast and had been downgraded from a Category 5 to a Category 2. The storm has changed paths several times and could change more, but the most recent path would hit Scotland County with 2 to 6 inches of rain along with tropical storm strength winds of around 30 to 50 miles per hour.
Scotland County Emergency Services Director Roylin Hammond explained that county officials are currently watching the storm and the Emergency Operations Center has been opened partially. Emergency services and other local agencies will be receiving updates on the storm twice a day through the North Carolina Division of Emergency Management.
“It’s been an unpredictable storm and even though it has diminished in size it can grow again,” Hammond said. “We’re going to keep watching it and providing updates as the storm progresses.”
Hammond added that with the winds there could be a loss of power so local residents should be prepared to be without power for several days.
“Make sure you have enough food and water that you can sustain yourself for 72 hours, which is three days,” Hammond said. “If you have a vehicle make sure it has a full tank of gas and make sure you have cash available since the card machines might not be working.”
According to the National Weather Service out of Raleigh, the wind and will begin to hit the area on Thursday into Friday, though some news outlets are predicting that the rain could begin as early as Wednesday. Hammond is encouraging people to stay vigilant to the storm updates to stay safe.
“If you experienced flooding during Florence make sure you are being observant of the water levels in case it does begin flooding,” Hammond said. “Make sure you’re paying attention to the weather channel and the news as well as being vigilant and aware of what’s going on.”
Currently, Scotland County Schools are scheduled to operate as normal as of Tuesday afternoon according to officials. The school system has administrators attending the meetings at the EOC to continue evaluating what will be best for the students.
“As of right now we are not canceling or delaying school and we’re going to continue to meet with emergency services and monitor the storm,” aid Scotland County Schools Public Information Officer Meredith Bounds. “We’re dependent right now on future updates from emergency services and we’re going to continue to monitor the situation.”
For updates on the storm, officials are using the Scotland County Facebook page to share information after each of the meetings and parents of Scotland County students will be able to see updates on the school’s website and social media accounts.
Reach Katelin Gandee at 910-506-3171 or at kgandee@laurinburgexch.wpenginepowered.com
