RICHMOND, Va. (WAVY) — Governor Ralph Northam lifted the mandatory evacuation order on Friday that was issued for Virginia residents in Zone A ahead of Hurricane Florence.
The order went into effect at 8 a.m. on Tuesday. Residents in Zone A — designated by the Virginia Department of Emergency Management as the most flood-prone areas of the Tidewater region — can return home.
Zone A is signified on the VDEM’s “Know Your Zone” map with the color blue. The flooding risk goes down from there: Zone B is green, C is orange and D is red. The zone map covers 23 localities and 1.25 million people living in Coastal Virginia.
“The imminent threat of coastal flooding and high winds have passed for our coastal communities as Hurricane Florence has made landfall in the Carolinas and we believe it is safe for Virginians to begin returning home,” Northam said via press release.
