In Wake County, responders and emergency officials keep a close eye on Hurricane Helene

APEX, N.C. (WTVD) -- Just off Hunter Street in Apex, team members at Fire Station No. 3 wait for more than just a regular call to hit the trucks.

Gracie George has been an Apex firefighter for five years. She's also been part of the swift water rescue team for three.

On Wednesday, George showed ABC11 all the equipment they would use if they were sent out to the western part of the state. The boat, the motors, the gear.

Western North Carolina is expected to feel the heaviest wrath from Hurricane Helene. Gov. Roy Cooper has declared a State of Emergency ahead of the storm.

Water rescues can be trickier than fighting normal fires.,

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Rescue crews head out to western NC ahead of the storm.

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"The water, there are so many unknowns with it," George said. "Anyone on a team would probably tell you it's the most dangerous thing we do. We can train and learn fire and things like that but with the water, there's so many unknowns you have to be well aware what you're going into and rely on your training."

She said it doesn't have to be the deployments to other parts of the state. They are also sent locally when there's high water on roads and other local flooding trouble when people are trapped in their cars.

There are six swift water rescue team members in Apex and six in Morrisville.

The state has activated the swift water rescue team in Cary and is headed to Lenoir Thursday morning in western North Carolina.

Raleigh Eyes Lake Levels

In Raleigh, they are watching and waiting differently.

City officials are trying to figure out what to do about Lake Johnson as Helene moves north.

The City of Raleigh and parts further west are preparing to get rain and possible flooding from Hurricane Helene.

So far, there are no plans to lower lake levels, but this is a downstream event.

"The flood stream gauges we have all across the state help us predict that so the Army Corps will keep an eye on that, and if they're anticipating lots of rise in water, they'll open up those releases and kind of allow water out at a controlled rate," said Autumn Goheen with Wake County Emergency Management.