Hurricane Ian struck a devastating blow to southwest Florida before rolling through North Carolina with relatively minor impact. Several N.C. Emergency Management employees and North Carolina responders who originally had braced
to provide local support, deployed instead to the Sunshine State.
The work of hazard mitigation is designed so that today’s investment will pay off in the event of a future threat; it’s playing the long game. While the damages done in Western North Carolina by the remnants of Tropical Storm Fred are undeniable, even greater losses would have occurred without the hazard mitigation measures put in place after Hurricane Frances and Tropical Storm Ivan more than a decade ago.