New Hanover County Emergency Management offers preparedness tips for Tropical Storm Elsa

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NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) —With Tropical Storm Elsa presenting a threat of severe weather, local emergency management is asking people to properly prepare for possible impact.

It’s still early in the hurricane season, and Tropical Storm Elsa is already the second storm expected to make its way to the Cape Fear.  Since we don’t yet know the full impact Elsa will have, New Hanover County Emergency Management director, Steven Still, says residents still need to remain weather aware.

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“These early low-level storms are just a really good opportunity to remind our folks to make sure that they have their preparedness plans in place. That they actually have a plan, if we are to receive a storm of higher significance,” said Steven Still, Emergency Management director.

Still says residents need to prepare enough supplies, like food, water, and safety items to help sustain them, and advises people to take a look around their property for possible hazards.

“Anything that’s loose debris, that can be wind chimes, anything that you have hanging in trees, or light areas, that could have potentially become wind-born debris, we ask residents to make sure that they take those things down, make sure that they’re secured. So, they don’t become a hazard to your property or to your neighbor’s property,” said Still.

While New Hanover County is expecting minimal impact from Elsa, still says this is not the time to let our guards down.

“With the Hurricane Center, you know, increasing, the duration of our Hurricane Season, by making it earlier this year, because of the presence of storms earlier in the year,” Still said. “I certainly don’t like the trend, and living here on the coast, we don’t want to see more storms, but we’re doing some more outreach, some more preparedness efforts, so people don’t necessarily let their guard down.”

New Hanover County Emergency Management is holding a free “Survivor Day” informational event on Saturday at Cape Fear Community College’s North Campus, where they will lead a program teaching people how to be prepared for life threatening storms.