Author: Keith Acree
North Carolina Emergency Management has received the 2019 Wade H. Hargrove Community Leadership Award from the North Carolina Association of Broadcasters for its support of the state and North Carolina’s broadcast stations during Hurricane Florence in the fall of 2018.
During the storm, the State Emergency Operations Center received a request for assistance in providing diesel fuel for the backup generators supporting the transmitters of three Wilmington TV stations. While these stations had agreements with fuel suppliers, the transmitter site was inaccessible due to flooded roads and downed trees. Power outages in the area were widespread. Without refueling, the generators would stop running and the TV stations would go off the air, cutting off a critical source of emergency information to the public.
Working with chainsaw crews from the N.C. Forest Service and high water trucks from the N.C. National Guard, communications team leaders on the State Emergency Response Team were able to coordinate the fuel delivery to the transmitter site and the TV stations were able to continue broadcasting.
State Representative John Bell presented the award to a team from North Carolina Emergency Management and thanked the organization for its outstanding response work during Hurricane Florence.
Deputy Operations Chief Todd Brown spoke to the broadcasters and thanked them for their partnership, in times of disaster and every day, in relaying important emergency information from government agencies to the public.