CONWAY, SC (WBTW) – The Horry County Emergency Operations Center is full active in preparation for Hurricane Dorian.
The EOC is a space where leaders from several different agencies can convene ahead of the storm.
It’s fully active when leaders move to OPCON 1- meaning the county is gearing up to respond to an emergency situation.
As the storm continues to approach, county leaders say the time to act is now.
“The bottom line is this is the time to prepare,” Horry County spokesperson Kelly Moore said. “We’ve got time still before the storm arrives. We can see how slow it is. While there’s still uncertainty about what the extent of the impacts may be, there are going to be impacts in this area so we really want people to be prepared for them.”
She says the slow-moving pace of Dorian may be affecting evacuation rates, which leaders say aren’t where they need to be.
“We don’t want complacency,” Moore said. “We know the storm seems far away. But we still want people to know this is the time to prepare and you still have time to prepare. Don’t wait until its too late to get your things in order.”
Governor McMaster ordered evacuations for Zone A in Horry and Georgetown Counties Sunday.
They went into effect Monday at noon. In subsequent news conferences, McMaster said the evacuations went smoothly.
There are at least 30,000 people who live in Zone A in Horry County.
The county advises residents who are staying put to prepares themselves for potential storm surges and power outages.
The county is already coordinating with utility companies to prepare for the aftermath.
“You also have things that are going to happen after the storm. So utilities (are) gearing up,” Moore said. “We’re in conversations with all of those folks so before during and after we’re ready to go ready to serve the people of Horry County.”
As for shelters, just 40 people had checked in as of Tuesday morning. The county has a capacity of 4,000.
For more coverage of Hurricane Dorian, head to the StormTracker13 Hurricane Center.
