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North Carolina unveils early flood-warning system for roads

This stream gauge over the Neuse River on N.C. 42 in Johnston County is one of several the NCDOT will rely on to gather data for a new early food-warning system. Photo courtesy of NCDOT.

As North Carolina prepares for the coming hurricane season, the state Department of Transportation has announced the development of a new early-flood warning system. 

The new system will allow the NCDOT's 14 highway divisions to more quickly map and analyze flood risks to roads, bridges, and culverts, and pass those warnings on to motorists in real-time.

According to a news release, the system will rely on a network of 400 river and stream gauges. Information will be passed on to department maintenance staff and emergency officials, who can then notify the public of weather-related closures through the DriveNC.gov website.

The technology was developed after Hurricane Florence struck in 2018, when the state legislature gave the NCDOT a $2 million grant to develop sophisticated software and install more flood gauges.

Matt Lauffer is an NCDOT engineer. He says the state will benefit from inter-agency cooperation that will ensure safer outcomes during major storms.

"I think the great part of the story is it's a partnership, right, it's a partnership with Emergency Management as well as DOT, so you've got two cabinet agencies working well together," says Lauffer. 

The NCDOT will also work with UNC-Chapel Hill and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to analyze forecast modeling data on how storm surge may affect coastal areas.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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