As South Carolina prepares for Hurricane Ian, which is expected to make landfall today as a Category 1 storm, here’s what Joe Coates, Emergency Management Division Manager for Charleston County, Carolina South, hopes residents would do.
- Stay off the road
- Stay at home
- Don’t drive around flood waters
- Don’t remove the barriers
“Eventually the storm winds are going to get so high that our first responders are going to be called back to the stations. And we really don’t need to try and save people who are out when those high winds come,” he said. he told CNN on Friday.
One of the key factors for Coates has been bringing new residents to the area who may not have experience preparing for hurricanes.
“So we’ve done our best to try to educate everyone and make sure they know the effects of these storms. And we’ve just tried to make sure people are heeding advice from first responders and our public officials to stay home and avoid the roads,” he said.
