By Junious Smith III

The Kinston Area Recovery Efforts organization is looking to help prepare the citizens of Lenoir County for future storms.

KARE will host its first Lenoir County hurricane preparedness summit conference Saturday at the Lenoir Community College gym from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event is free to the public and will focus on how to be ready for future natural disasters such as hurricanes, floods and tornadoes.

KARE Director Adrian King said the organization formed in 1999 and wants to help the masses while also preparing them as a means to be proactive.

“The organization formed after Hurricane Floyd, stuck around for a few years and petered out,” King said. “When Hurricane Matthew hit (in 2016), it was put back together again to help people recover, and when Hurricane Florence came around (in September), we were able to help out more victims.

“The main thing for us Saturday is to encourage the community to come out while also helping them appreciate the value of being prepared. We’re here to help, but also want to assist in getting people ready — it’s not about if a storm is coming, but when. We don’t know when it’ll happen, but it’s best to be prepared.”

KARE is working with Lenoir County Emergency Services to put together the event. Samuel Kornegay, deputy director of emergency management, said KARE is providing a long-term commitment to the area and wants to help prepare the residents for any future disasters.

“We partnered with KARE to set up the expo and get different vendors from a state, local and federal level, along with nonprofits, to help residents,” Kornegay said. “There will be booths from different agencies in the LCC gym and anyone can walk in and out to see what we’re doing. There will also be a portion of the event for different speakers throughout the day to give additional information.”

Lenoir County EMS Director Jerri King said numerous agencies have been invited and just about any question can be answered.

“The overall importance of this event is to provide the public answers to specific questions before and after a major event,” King said. “We’ll have representatives from EMS, FEMA, the National Weather Service, the health department, DSS and Red Cross. The Lenoir County Public Schools system plans to attend and we may have members of the county fire departments to answer questions as well.”

For groups looking to reserve space, contact Adrian King at 252-525-6139 before 5 p.m. Wednesday.