Raleigh officials taking precautions in flood-prone areas due to Ian

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Precautions are now underway to ensure flood-prone areas in the Triangle are ready for the possibility of several inches of rain due to Hurricane Ian.

City officials in Raleigh are already taking precautions at Lake Johnson. They say the plan is to lower the lake about a foot a day as they monitor Hurricane Ian.

More lakes could be lowered based on the changing track of the storm. City workers have been clearing drains on streets to prevent any clogs. And this will be the first storm the city will be able to utilize new road cameras in flood prone areas. There are also more than 400 river gauges statewide and Ian will be the first storm to test the system.

"Gives a lot of new capacity for flood warning and alert just abilities for local community communities to have better information to base decisions on know when water levels are rising in their areas and when they need to take actions to protect maybe their infrastructure to order evacuations," Keith Acree said, who is a spokesperson for North Carolina Emergency Management.

And of course now is the time to make sure you're ready and you and your family have a plan, including having an emergency kit in place.