Hurricane Helene devastated communities, inspired tech upgrades

After the devastating Hurricane Helene struck North Carolina last September, Gary Thompson, the state’s deputy hazard mitigation officer, says on StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast that the state hopes to make its stream gauges and flood warning system more resilient before next year’s storm season. Thompson says North Carolina plans to upgrade those critical communication systems with ultrasonic radar sensors and satellites so they can continue to predict flood zones, issue evacuation warnings and deliver critical information to residents about incoming storms. “One of the advantages is all the equipment is out of the water, so if there’s a lot of rain, a lot of velocity, if we have the equipment high enough and stable enough for it to survive during that event,” Thompson says. Joining him is Taylor Kerby, founder of Triangle UAS, an equipment vendor that helped design North Carolina’s modern stream gauges, and Pattiy Torno, a longtime resident of Asheville, North Carolina, which was hit particularly hard by Hurricane Helene.

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