ANNAPOLIS, Md. (September 10, 2018<\/span><\/span>)<\/strong>\u2013<\/b>Governor Larry Hogan today signed\u00a0Executive Order 01.01.2018.22<\/a>\u00a0declaring a state of emergency beginning\u00a0Monday, September 10, 2018<\/span><\/span>\u00a0ahead of the landfall of Hurricane Florence. The executive order will allow the state to more efficiently coordinate support and provide assistance to local jurisdictions within Maryland and neighboring states.<\/p>\n “At this time, there is still some uncertainty about the track of this storm and its potential impact, but we are preparing for any possible outcome, including the potential for historic and catastrophic rainfall, life-threatening flooding, and high winds,” said Governor Hogan. “Our state is taking every precaution, and I urge Marylanders to do the same. Stay tuned to your local news stations for the latest updates, listen to state and local authorities, and most importantly, use common sense.”<\/p>\n Weather forecasters have indicated that there is the potential for life-threatening conditions, including catastrophic flooding as well as high winds and dangerous conditions in our waterways. Current forecasts indicate that torrential rains, tropical storm force winds, and\u00a0and tidal flooding\/storm surge could impact the state beginning as early as\u00a0Thursday<\/span><\/span>.<\/p>\n The state\u2019s Emergency Operations Center Response Level has been elevated and center is fully staffed with emergency management personnel and state agency coordinating function representatives.<\/p>\n The\u00a0state of emergency<\/a>\u00a0allows the governor to access critical resources in order to increase the state\u2019s response, like the Maryland National Guard. It also allows Maryland to receive assistance from other states as part of the\u00a0Emergency Management Assistance Compact<\/a>.\u00a0This compact serves as the cornerstone of the nation’s mutual aid system and offers assistance and aid during states of emergency through member states.<\/p>\n \u201cA state of emergency is a good indicator that residents should remain alert and follow officials\u2019 orders, news stations, and weather forecasts in order to be informed of the situation,\u201d said MEMA\u2019s Executive Director, Russell Strickland. \u201cWe encourage all residents and visitors to our State to visit\u00a0www.KnowYourZoneMD.com<\/a>\u00a0<\/b>to see if they are inside, or, if they are traveling to, a hurricane evacuation zone,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Governor Hogan has directed state agencies to stand ready to respond to the effects of this storm, including the Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MEMA). For more information, residents can also go to MEMA\u2019s website at\u00a0mema.maryland.gov<\/a>,\u00a0follow MEMA\u2019s Twitter feed at\u00a0@MDMEMA<\/a>,\u00a0or follow MEMA\u2019s Facebook page at\u00a0www.facebook.com\/MDMEMA<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Executive Order Issued Ahead of Storm Making Projected Landfall on the U.S. East Coast ANNAPOLIS, Md. (September 10, 2018)\u2013Governor Larry Hogan today signed\u00a0Executive Order 01.01.2018.22\u00a0declaring a state of emergency beginning\u00a0Monday, September 10, 2018\u00a0ahead of the landfall of Hurricane Florence. The executive order will allow the state to more efficiently coordinate support and provide assistance to Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[95,392,143,391,162,323,322,172,390,256],"class_list":["post-12829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-releases","tag-emergency-declaration","tag-florence","tag-hurricane","tag-hurricane-florence","tag-maryland","tag-md","tag-mdmema","tag-mema","tag-soe","tag-state-of-emergency"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t