New Zone-Based Evacuation System Established for Coastal NC

BY DABNEY WEEMS, NC Department of Public Safety
en español

Know Your Zone, North Carolina’s new system of coastal evacuation zones, launched earlier this month. This tiered evacuation system focuses on areas most vulnerable to impacts from hurricanes, tropical storms and other hazards.

The campaign was implemented to simplify the evacuation process by assigning lettered evacuation zones in each county, based on areas of higher and lower risk of flooding.

How Does it Work?

Local governments in 20 North Carolina coastal counties have drawn pre-determined evacuation zones. As storms approach, local officials will determine which zones need to be evacuated and will order evacuations using the lettered zones.

North Carolinians can visit KnowYourZone.nc.gov and learn their zone by entering their address into the interactive map. You can find the zone for your workplace, children’s school, and/or or your loved ones, too.

During an Emergency

Local officials will determine which zones should be evacuated. Areas in Zone A will typically be evacuated first, followed by areas in Zone B, etc.

While all zones won’t be evacuated in every event, emergency managers will work with local media and use other outreach tools to notify residents and visitors of impacted zones and evacuation instructions. Residents should look and listen for their county name and zone when evacuations are ordered.

Tell Your Neighbors

Once you learn your zone, the website has plenty of resources to share with your community. Social media graphics, posters and even a children’s activity packet are available to download here. Use them to help spread the word about Know Your Zone.

The more people who know their zone, the smoother the evacuation process becomes.

Conozca Su Zona

The Know Your Zone website is also available in Spanish at Conozca Su Zona

Hurricane Guides

North Carolina Hurricane Guides are available online at  Know Your Zone and Ready NC.