Wayne County residents know how to prepare for inland flooding

By Luke Notestine, WRAL photojournalist

Goldsboro, N.C. — The people of Wayne County are preparing the best way they know how for hurricane season.

“Our emergency management guys have been pretty tied up all day long,” Joel Gillie, county spokesman, said Friday.
They are really looking at those impacts and how they’re going to affect Wayne County.“

Parts of Wayne County like Seven Springs have been hit hard in the past with Hurricane Matthew and with Hurricane Florence. This year presents new challenges when preparing for storms.

“This time, with the pandemic, things are going to look a little bit different. We are really pushing that message of you should shelter in place as much as possible,“ Gillie said.

With the need for social distance, Gillie says, shelters may not have as much capacity as in years past.

He urged every family to prepare an emergency kit.

“There are a lot of things we have to think about in that emergency kit this time that maybe you didn’t have to before, like having a mask in your emergency kit or having hand sanitizer or something you can disinfect the area with. That’s something that not many people think about, and it’s going to change with COVID-19,” he said.