Beverly Eaves Perdue
Governor
State of North Carolina
Office of the Governor
20301 Mail Service Center* Raleigh, NC 27699-0301
August 23, 2011
Contact: Chris Mackey
Office: (919)733-5612
GOV. PERDUE REQUESTS EMERGENCY DISASTER DECLARATION
Approval would make federal aid available for individuals
RALEIGH - Gov. Bev Perdue today sent a letter to President Barack Obama requesting a federal pre-landfall
emergency declaration in anticipation of damages to North Carolina caused by Hurricane Irene. The declaration
opens federal assets to help government agencies respond to the potential disaster.
If approved, the declaration also would allow North Carolina to gain federal financial support for emergency
protective measures such as the use of the N.C. National Guard, State Highway Patrol, N.C. Department of
Transportation, as well as the opening shelters and providing other resources as needed.
“Hurricane Irene is a large storm and expected to impact a number of our coastal counties,” Perdue said.
“We’ve had a history of hurricanes, and we want to be prepared with the necessary federal aid to completely
recover from any significant damage.”
Evacuations began yesterday for Oeracoke and started this morning on mainland Hyde and Dare and Currituck
counties.
The pre-landfall emergency declaration request includes: Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Camden,
Carteret, Chowan, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Currituck, Dare, Duplin, Edgecombe, Gates, Greene,
Halifax, Harnett, Hertford, Hyde, Johnston, Jones, Lenoir, Martin, Nash, New Hanover, Northampton, Onslow,
Pamlico, Pasquotank, Pender, Perquimans, Pitt, Robeson, Sampson, Tyrrell, Washington, Wayne and Wilson
counties.
The governor declared a State of Emergency late Wednesday. As part of the state’s preparations, Perdue
activated 20 members of the National Guard today. About 160 more come on duty Friday and 2,300 are on
standby. Swift water rescue teams are on standby and available to assist if needed. Additionally, she has
directed the State Highway Patrol to assist with evacuations ordered by local governments. The Highway Patrol
activated 32 additional troopers today to assist with the storm and will activate 16 more tomorrow; 96 additional
troopers have been placed on standby. Members of the Civil Air Patrol will be monitoring coastal evacuations
to provide quick response as needed.
At the state’s request, the Federal Emergency Management Agency pre-positioned personnel and emergency
relief supplies in the state prior to the storm. State and federal damage assessment teams will be deployed
