WNC officials begin preparing with Ian’s sights set on the Carolinas later this week

By Anjali Patel

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    ASHEVILLE, North Carolina (WLOS) — As Hurricane causes devastating storm surge in Florida, the system’s sights will soon be set on the Carolinas later this week.

Western North Carolina officials are preparing for the worst, and hoping for the best.

While Ian’s track can still vary, it is expected to bring heavy rain and other impacts to the area, especially the eastern part of the mountains.

Lake Lure, Rutherford County On Wednesday, Sept. 28, officials with the Town of Lake Lure announced they were lowering the lake levels by 3 feet in preparation for the storm.

“We are adjusting and proactively taking down the lake level to account for what we’re anticipating is going to come into Lake Lure,” said town manager Hank Perkins.

He said the lake level had already been down about a foot due to evaporation and natural causes. Officials have decided to bring that level down by an additional 3 feet ahead of Ian’s arrival.

“We’re hoping that’s all we’ll need, but that is based on the forecast that we’ve seen,” Perkins said. Perkins said they’re expecting up to 6 inches of rain in town and 6-8 inches within the watershed.

Perkins said their other primary concern is wind gusts.

“Lake Lure, because of its terrain and the tree growth getting so close to the road, our power supply coming into town is quite limited so when we have a lot of wind and rain on top of that, we end up with a lot of trees that end up going down,” Perkins said.

Since Lake Lure is a popular tourist destination, Perkins is urging visitors to be weather-aware, too.

“I would say that if you are not here already, consider not coming here,” he said. “If you are in a place right now for vacation, take appropriate actions like you would if you were at your house. Be prepared and act appropriately.”

He reminds folks that if there is standing water in the road, do not try driving through it. He said emergency folks in Lake Lure and throughout the county are on alert.

“We’ve got all our folks on standby and we’re just going to wait and see,” Perkins said.

Lake Lure officials urge both locals and tourists to sign up for Everbridge, a mass notification service. The notification system is utilized by Rutherford County officials. Through the service, local officials can alert you about potential safety hazards and concerns.

To sign up for the alerts, click here and add your contact and location information into the mass notification system. All information provided by citizens is strictly confidential.

McDowell County In McDowell County, Emergency Services Director Will Kehler said they began communicating with partner agencies on Monday in preparation.

“We are expecting heavy rainfall to start on Friday and lasting through part of the weekend,” Kehler said. “We are preparing for 6 to 8 inches of rainfall and we know that that forecast can change from really hour to hour but emergency services has to be prepared. We can’t afford not to prepare and be caught off guard.”

He said that during tropical events, the eastern slopes of the western and northern sections of the county can experience significant rainfall and flash flooding.

“It’s all hands on deck to make sure that folks are aware of what is potentially to come,” Kehler said. “We’re encouraging folks to have their emergency plans, do the simple preparations of cleaning out gutters, storm drains, ditches. Those simple tasks that can help prevent water damage or property damage.” HURRICANE IAN SENDS 100-PLUS MPH WINDS INLAND; HEAVY RAIN EXPECTED FOR CAROLINAS

He also encourages folks to start communicating with family members that if flash flooding warnings or additional advisories are issued, they heed those. He urges folks to have their emergency alerts turned on through their cellular devices.

He said throughout the week, emergency management folks there have been checking disaster equipment and generators and making sure communications systems are ready to go and operational.

He urges anyone living in particularly flood-prone areas to be on alert for rapidly rising water, if they do receive the amount of rainfall that is being projected.

“We have a number of campgrounds along the Catawba and the North Fork Catawba River. We also have some campgrounds along the smaller creeks and along the Broad, so all of those areas are trouble spots that we’ve historically had, or have a history of flooding. Those are the ones we’re going to watch very closely,” Kehler said.

He said they’ll be keeping close watch on those low-lying areas, as well as the entire county.

With heavy rains in the mountains comes the potential for landslides, so that’s something officials are watching out for, too.

“We saw over 50 different landslides during Tropical Storm Alberto back in 2018, which was a significant event for us, so we’re always on guard for landslides, as well as flash flooding,” he said.

To sign up for McDowell County’s emergency alert system, text MCDOWELL911 in all caps to 888-777.

Buncombe County In Buncombe County, officials are in contact with emergency services partners ahead of the arrival of Ian’s impacts.

County officials urge you to keep emergency numbers handy. They also remind citizens that Buncombe County does not manage roads, but you can find real-time road alerts from the North Carolina Dept. of Transportation.

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