Residents have a chance to weigh in on the state's emergency response to Hurricane Irene. Emergency management officials and forecasters are hosting public meetings this week in eastern North Carolina to review their communication tactics during the storm. Rich Bandy is the lead meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Newport.
Rich Bandy: "It was one of the biggest storm surge events that we've experienced in the last 20 or 30 years. I think our forecasts were on. I think if there was anything that we can look to improve upon, it's going to be the communication aspect and if we were able to get the word out in a way that people understood what the impacts were going to be."
Bandy says social media played a larger role in getting information to residents during Hurricane Irene. The storm caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage and killed six people in North Carolina. This week's meetings start tonight in Bayboro and continue through Wednesday.