Weekend storms pose risk of flooding and mudslides in High Country

Local and state officials are preparing for heavy rain across North Carolina this weekend from the remnants of Hurricane Ian. State officials are deciding what resources to put in place to address potential storm damage.

Governor Roy Cooper declared a State of Emergency Wednesday. It puts the state’s emergency operations plan in play. The move waives certain transportation rules to ensure fuel and critical supplies reach those in need, help first responders and the agriculture industry, and prevent price gouging.

Keith Acree is a spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety. He says an area of concern is a line of the Blue Ridge mountains that stretch into the High Country.

“We’re looking at five to seven inches of predicted rainfall, and that’s the kind of thing that potentially could cause landslides, mudslides, those sort of things,” he says. “So we’re watching that closely.”

The National Weather Service predicts that heavy rainfall will begin in northwest North Carolina late Friday, but the track and timing is uncertain and could change.

A landslide killed two people in Watauga County in the wake of Tropical Storm Alberto in 2018.