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Arctic blast has everyone preparing for the cold air coming to the Carolinas

Transportation regulations were waived to help transport fuel and critical supplies, along with protecting people against price gouging.

GREENSBORO, Ala. — An arctic air mass is approaching, which means there's a possibility of icy conditions in the western part of the state and below-average temperatures.

Because of this, Governor Roy Cooper signed a State of Emergency Tuesday.

WFMY News 2's Amber Lake spoke with travelers as well as emergency management and the North Carolina Department of Transportation about the state of emergency and what this means across the state.

So, every state of emergency is different.

When declared, operation plans are activated and price gouging laws take effect. 

Since the declaration, travelers said they are getting to where they need to be ahead of those cold temps tomorrow.

Just days before Christmas, this family is heading back to New Bern. 

"We are traveling from Troutman, North Carolina to Farmville North Carolina," Doug and Carol Hendrix said. 

Families across the nation are traveling ahead of an oncoming artic mass and it can be a hassle for some. 

"It’s been really nasty," The Hendrix family said. "There’s been a lot of several accidents but this weather is much better here than it was through Winston-Salem in that area. I was glad that we were leaving today to try and get back before everything gets worse."

Headed back to eastern North Carolina, Chris Barnes and his family wanted to get on the road early to beat any traffic and take their time.

"Right now, I’ve been driving under the speed limit in a lot of areas because of the rain and as I said, I’ve seen a lot of cars in the median. Just be careful driving especially with the rain right now," Barnes stated. 

Cold temperatures are expected to move into the state Friday.

Guilford County Emergency Services say, for now, they are operating business as usual but are prepared to change operations if need be.

The state of emergency doesn’t necessarily impact emergency services in this particular declaration.

"A lot of time it’ll give us the resources and the ability to pull in the associated folks that we need it sort of gives us an opportunity to speak to the public and get them ready for a situation that we can kind of see coming," Scott Muthersbaugh- PIO for Guilford County Emergency Services stated. 

With this specific declaration, transportation regulations have been waived to help transport fuel and critical supplies, as well as help first responders and protect consumers from price gouging.

"Where it helps is that our drivers that are spending an excessive amount of time on the road, making sure deliveries are made, and particularly on our wholesale department, we are able to take care of customers, through extended hours without jeopardizing the regulations behind their licenses.”

In addition to the cold temperatures, it will be very windy statewide Friday through early Saturday. Strong wind gusts could result in some downed trees, power outages, and wind chill values in the single digits across the state and below zero across the mountains.

Something NCDOT says they are keeping an eye out for.

Tomorrow’s gonna be something we don’t usually experience during the winter time, so just make sure that you’re traveling about just be aware of that and be aware of the power and stuff like that if they do lose power just find a local area has a plan that’s the best way I can say have a plan for tomorrow," Stephen Dixon, NCDOT Division 7 staff maintenance engineer explained. 

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