Emergency response teams activated in North Carolina ahead of Hurricane Helene

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. (WNCN) — North Carolina Emergency Management officially activated the state’s emergency response teams ahead of Hurricane Helene.

The city of Rocky Mount has two teams. The fire department’s Swiftwater Emergency Rescue Team was on standby Wednesday evening a day after part of the city’s power restoration team took off for Tallahassee, FL to support other ERTs.

“When you’re in the electric utility business, it’s like a brotherhood,” Rocky Mount Energy Resources Director Chris Beschler said. “Their main goal is they want to help out. That’s why they’re in the line of business they’re in. They’re very good at what they do, they’re skilled linemen, and they realize what an inconvenience it is to not have power and the tragedy you have when you have a hurricane.”

North Carolina Emergency Management Director Will Ray said some of the response teams are on standby after they were activated. He also noted the storm has the potential for tornados.

If and when they are deployed, the teams are likely to head to the Appalachians, the  Asheville area, and to the Carolina-Tennessee border, where heavy rain up to 15 inches, gusty winds, and mudslides are predicted by Friday.

“I think our major concern right now is the size and intensity of the storm as it progresses through the Gulf coast north and what the potential impact will be to North Carolina,” Ray said.

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