RALEIGH — As Hurricane Irene nears the North Carolina coast, residents and visitors can rely on NCDOT Mobile to get real-time emergency information right on their smartphones. The N.C. Department of Transportation today updated its web-based application to make it easy to access hurricane evacuation route maps and real-time travel conditions.
To access NCDOT Mobile, smartphone users should type “m.ncdot.gov” into the phone’s browser. Once the application loads, they will see a bar labeled “Emergency Information” at the top of the screen. Selecting this option will provide the following helpful tools:
- Hurricane Evacuation Route Maps – NCDOT Mobile provides phone-friendly maps for each of the hurricane evacuation routes that guide motorists from the coast inland to safety from the storm. The user can get turn-by-turn driving directions to navigate each route by touching the arrows at the bottom of the map;
- Google Crisis Map – This tool allows users to see all the hurricane evacuation routes along the North Carolina coast at once and add layers of imagery on top of the map. The user can select from options such as U.S. radar, hurricane warnings and watches, and Hurricane Irene’s forecast track;
- 511 – This is North Carolina’s toll-free travel information line. It offers voice-activated information about road and weather conditions, and more. NCDOT Mobile provides a link that will directly dial 511 on the user’s smartphone. It also offers links to the 511 websites for neighboring states, which may be impacted by Hurricane Irene; and
- Twitter – Throughout the duration of the storm, NCDOT is sending tweets about weather conditions in North Carolina, road closures and ferry schedule changes, and important safety information. Users can follow NCDOT Twitter feeds for specific regions of the state or major interstate routes to find out the latest details on the places where they live and work.
By providing this information in one, easy-to-access location, NCDOT hopes to help citizens stay informed before, during and after Irene strikes. The department reminds users not to drive if weather conditions make travel unsafe and never to use NCDOT Mobile while operating a vehicle.
Source: NCDOT Press release
