Communities face obstacles as they work to improve infrastructure for hurricane damage

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DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) — It’s been a relatively quiet hurricane season, but that could quickly change as we enter what is traditionally the busiest part of the season.

Experts from Duke University say many communities have ideas on how to improve their infrastructure to be more resilient to storm damage, but a number of things stand in the way such as financial resources and other community needs.

One of the biggest obstacles is the rush to recover after a storm hits.

“When a storm hits those creative ideas tend to go out of the window. Because they really just want to get the road back in order to access essential services. They just want to be able to clear the sand as quickly as possible so they can get back to school and get access to critical health care facilities,” Doctor Megan Mullin said.

The group of experts from Duke say communities should focus on making improvements and doing things differently when they are not under the stress of storm recovery.

There are two systems the ABC11 Weather Team is keeping an eye on right now. One is off the west coast of Africa and the other is near the Caribbean Sea.

The system off the coast of Africa is expected to leave the coast sometime Thursday. It is forecasted to keep tracking west into the far eastern Atlantic waters. It has a low chance for development into something stronger over the next 2-5 days.

The system near the Caribbean Sea also has a low chance to develop in the next 2-5 days, but offers more opportunity for tropical development into next week, according to ABC11 Meteorologist Kweilyn Murphy.

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