U.S. Army Corps of Engineers holds a training exercise in preparation for hurricane season

NEW HANOVER COUNTY (WWAY) — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Wilmington District held its final training session ahead of the start of hurricane season.

The Army Corps of Engineers is laying out plans they will have in place if a hurricane happens to hit Wilmington. They reviewed possible scenarios for severe weather, which included 24 hours before a hurricane makes landfall and 24 hours after.

Colonel Benjamin Bennett Commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Wilmington District said the district has been training for hurricane season over the last three months.

“We participated in a state’s hurricane exercise and then we do our own, so we’re not, –we don’t wake up right before a storms about to hit landfall and wonder what we’re supposed to be doing. We have checklists,” said Col. Benjamin Bennett, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Wilmington District Commander.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Chief of Emergency Management, Steve LaValle, said the plans take into account the impact previous hurricanes like Florence had on the cape fear region, and watch severe weather days before a hurricane possibly hits the area.

“We monitor it as far out as we can possibly, but within a 162-hour window is when we really start to take internal actions to set the conditions,” said Steve LaValle, chief of emergency management.

It also included ways to ensure the safety of personnel, and plans to reach out to other corps of engineer districts if help is needed for coastal storm risk management .

“We have lakes here within North Carolina that help maintain, that help mitigate flooding activities, so making sure we have systems in place to track rainfall, to make sure that we can monitor what the outpouring of the dams to not exacerbate flooding,” said Col. Bennett.

Officials are advising residents to develop their own hurricane preparedness plan, as the season begins June 1.