Durham is Ready as Irene Pushes Visitors Inland

While the coast is a few hours to the east, Durham is playing an integral role in helping to manage the situation caused by the first hurricane to make landfall in NC is several years.  At Category 3, Irene is on a path of destruction that will affect many of the more than 60 million Americans on the Eastern Seaboard.

This is an unexpected boon for inland hoteliers.

As evacuations are continually announced along NC's coastline, residents and visitors (it's their high season for visitation) are mandated to move to safer havens.  That mass of humanity comes West, and Durham--with its two interstate highways--is a stopping point for many. 

For perspective, according to State officials, Dare County alone has 35,000 residents and 150,000 visitors at this time of year.  Many will need a place to stay.  As of Friday afternoon, four Coastal Counties had been issued mandatory evacuations and several others such as New Hanover county, had been urged to initiate voluntary evacuations.

To demonstrate the impact on Durham:  Durham has nearly 7,700 hotel rooms.  The number of available rooms on Friday night dropped by 30.2 percent in approximately 18 hours.  In that same time period, Sunday's dropped 43.8 percent.  One hotel front desk operator offered when asked if the uptick in bookings was evacuees, "Yes, absolutely."

To aide those in need, DCVB activated its Lodging Hot Line on Wednesday afternoon and started providing information to the State on Thursday.  According to Shelly Green, President & CEO of DCVB, "The Hot Line is really a great service to both travelers and lodging operators - it's a great supply and demand tool that is easy for both parties.  DCVB has even improved its hotline to indicate properties that accept pets as well as exit numbers of those along Interstate highways." 

The State has available rooms in Durham and other destinations up on it's website now.  "Since we provide this information to the State as a link to a document on our server, we are keeping that list up to date all the time, so those needing the information are getting it accurately."

Below is official information provided from North Carolina Department of Commerce.  

Hurricane Irene

VISITOR MESSAGE:
Safety is the first priority for our visitors. Our primary communication with them is to make sure that they stay connected with their accommodation provider, to news broadcasts and stay up-to-date on current conditions. Our hope is that the storm will pass quickly and that the entire North Carolina coast will be open for a fantastic Labor Day weekend and week.

VISITNC.COM
As we receive notice of closures and evacuations, we will update the weather advisory on the main page of VisitNC.com with the most current information from several sources throughout the state. We also link to several other sites for storm information. http://www.visitnc.com/

LODGING:
Travelers in need of accommodations can call the state’s visitor assistance line at 1-800-VISIT-NC (847-4862) which will be open 24/7 through the weekend, or contact the locations listed below. VisitNC.com also has a list of accommodations throughout the state at www.visitnc.com/lodging.

We are receiving media reports that hotels in nearest proximity of the coast are filling up with evacuees. Please ask your area hoteliers to stay in touch and direct visitors to VisitNC.com or 1-800-VISIT-NC (847-4862) if they run out of rooms. It is very important that no one gets turned away during the storm.

 

PRICE GOUGING:

It is a good time to remind property owners and area businesses of the state’s gouging law. Here’s a link to the specifics. http://ncdoj.gov/News-and-Alerts/News-Releases-and-Advisories/Press-Releases/Price-gouging-law-in-effect-due-to-Irene,-says-AG-.aspx

TRANSPORTATION:
The North Carolina Department of Transportation provides real-time information about travel conditions through its Twitter feeds. NCDOT immediately sends out tweets about road closures, flooding, ferry cancellations and evacuation routes.

NCDOT Northern Coastal Region feed:http://twitter.com/ncdot_ncoast
NCDOT Southern Coastal Region feed:http://twitter.com/ncdot_scoast
NCDOT Ferry System feed: http://twitter.com/ncdot_ferry

The Department of Transportation’s Travel Information Management Systems (TIMS) system also gives comprehensive information on events that affect road conditions.

TIMS Updates: http://tims.ncdot.gov/tims/default.aspx

OTHER USEFUL LINKS
NC Department of Transportation – www.ncdot.org
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – www.noaa.com
National Weather Service – www.nws.noaa.gov
National Hurricane Center – www.nhc.noaa.gov 
NC Emergency Management (Department of Crime Control and Public Safety) –www.nccrimecontrol.org

POST-STORM

Marketing the Coast After the Storm
The Division will update its website and all of its marketing assets to encourage visitors to return to the coast as soon as areas re-open for business. Through the public relations staff, editorial media will be used to highlight areas as they re-open and as visitors return. The Division will also incorporate social media outlets and digital advertising with our in-state media partners to encourage visitation.

BUSINESS RECOVERY
Businesses seeking disaster assistance can call Business Link North Carolina (BLNC) at 1-800-228-8443. Businesses will be guided to regional resources including the SBTDC and Small Business Center Network.   Services will include: 1) assessing financial impact, 2) reconstructing financial statements, 3) preparing SBA disaster loans and 4) exploring options with creditors.