WYTHE COUNTY, Va. – Emergency crews in Wythe County are all hands on deck for Hurricane Helene.
“The impact we are seeing last night and right now is not technically the hurricane impact we are expecting in the next couple of days,” said Allyson Williams, public information officer for Wythe County. “The county is just doing everything they can as far as emergency services and management goes to inform the public what’s coming, what’s already happening, and what people can do, or who to call, if they do have that emergency situation.”
She said they are staging crews to keep an eye on the commonly flooded areas.
“We’re making sure that extra staffing is there as the storm moves in,” Williams said.
She said many folks in the county live in flood zones and that this is something they are prepared to deal with.
“This unfortunately does happen pretty often if we have these big storms,” Williams said.
Right now, the key is for folks to stay informed and not go out unless they have to.
“I know it’s very tempting to go out and say ‘Oh it’s not really raining right now, let’s go see what it’s doing somewhere else,’” said Williams. “Please don’t.”
If there is an emergency, they have people ready.
“We have search and rescue crews who are prepared to come and help you, but we hope we don’t need to,” Williams said.
As this storm progresses, we will have continuous coverage of it.
For all the latest updates, you can find them here.