RALEIGH - The North Carolina Division of Emergency Management recently received an Outstanding Achievement Award for developing and maintaining a regional plan to aid in the evacuation of at-risk citizens during a hurricane or other such emergency.

The Coastal Region Evacuation and Sheltering Standard Operating Guide, or CRES-SOG, matched counties which are at risk from storm surge flooding with those who will host evacuees by providing safe shelter from the storm. As the name suggests, the guide identifies ways to evacuate or shelter elderly and medically-fragile citizens in 20 coastal counties to get them out of harms way. It addresses managing mass evacuations, assigning resources, sheltering fragile populations and the general populace and disseminating public information. The plan was first developed in 2008 and was revised last summer.

National Hurricane Center Director Bill Read presented the award April 1 to Doug Hoell, state emergency management director during the annual National Hurricane Conference in Florida. North Carolina was the only state to receive the award.

“Developing the CRES-SOG was a tremendous undertaking,” said Hoell. “But the result is our state is better prepared for coastal hurricanes. Having consistent, coordinated guidelines for each of our counties means we can save lives during a catastrophic event.” ####