NCDOT lauded for Helene response
The N.C. Department of Transportation has been nationally recognized for its collaborative and dynamic emergency response to Hurricane Helene last fall.
The department received the overall top honors during this year’s National Operations Center of Excellence’s Transportation Systems Management & Operations (TSMO) Awards; the winners were announced last week in Maryland during an annual meeting of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Committee on Transportation System Operations.
The NCDOT took home two top awards: the “Best TSMO Project” and “Best Overall Winner.”
The state agency was lauded for serving as a central coordination point for road conditions that local, state and federal agencies relied on for their response and recovery operations. The department used its advance flood-warning system to help pre-position Incident Management Assistance Patrol (IMAP) crews in locations where staff believed they could help save lives, and shared critical safety information on its traveler-information website at drivenc.gov.
NCDOT helped maintain mobility and access for emergency supplies in the affected counties, while prioritizing travel for responders and preserving limited resources for storm victims. These efforts not only protected the community but also laid the foundation for more efficient, cost-effective responses during future disasters.
The flooding from Hurricane Helene devastated the transportation network in western North Carolina, washing out numerous roads, highways, bridges, and isolating multiple communities.
Related Items
Hurricane recovery receives a boost
FEMA frustration boils over as Waynesville faces $3.8 million gap
Unpaid FEMA claims force Waynesville into budget reckoning
Dems’ ‘Red to Blue’ list sparks Primary Election backlash
NCDOT estimated the storm damaged nearly 9,400 sites, resulting in the closure of 1,400 state-maintained roads and damaging 818 state-maintained bridges.
In response, NCDOT deployed over 2,000 employees to restore and rebuild the damaged transportation network.
The annual awards program celebrates TSMO strategies and tools that leverage existing infrastructure to increase safety and reliability; the success of those programs and strategies are shared with other state highway departments.
