RALEIGH Making an announcement from the National Guard Joint Force Headquarters in Raleigh Monday, Gov. Pat McCrory declared a state of emergency in anticipation of potential impacts from major Hurricane Matthew as it tracks north through the Caribbean.The sate of emergency applies to a total of 66 counties in the central and eastern regions of the state in order to offer farmers and other agribusiness ample time to collect harvests before any effects of the storm are felt.”What we don’t want to do is have them wait until Thursday to begin having them do that expedited harvest,” McCrory said.Under a state of emergency certain regulations are temporarily suspended in order to maximize the efforts to complete crop harvests and storm preparations. Monday’s announcement comes after previous emergencies were declared due to persistent and heavy rains in eastern North Carolina caused flooding and ruined crops.Hurricane Matthew is currently a category 4 storm with maximum winds of 140 MPH, traveling north toward the island nations of Jamaica, Haiti and Cuba. On its current path, it is expected to close in on the Carolinas as a slightly weaker, yet still powerful, storm this weekend.Counties included in the declaration are:Alamance, Anson, Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret, Caswell, Chatham, Chowan, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Currituck, Dare, Davidson, Davie, Duplin, Durham, Edgecombe, Forsyth, Franklin, Gates, Granville, Greene, Guilford, Halifax, Harnett, Hertford, Hoke, Hyde, Johnston, Jones, Lee, Lenoir, Martin, Montgomery, Moore, Nash, New Hanover, Northampton, Onslow, Orange, Pamlico, Pasquotank, Pender, Perquimans, Person, Pitt, Randolph, Richmond, Robeson, Rockingham, Sampson, Scotland, Stokes, Surry, Tyrrell, Vance, Wake, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Wilson, and Yadkin counties
