Wednesday, April 30, 2025

Navy authorizes evacuation of personnel living in Zone A

Tuesday morning, Commander, Navy Region Mid-Atlantic authorized an emergency evacuation order for active duty Navy and civilian personnel, dependents of active duty service members and reservists on active duty residing in Hampton Roads and Virginia Zone A.

The move follows Gov. Ralph’s Northam’s order for mandatory evacuation for those live in Zone A in Hampton Roads and the Eastern Shore – the order remains in effect until Sept. 16.

“The safety of our personnel and their families is my top priority right now,” said the commander of Navy Region Mid-Atlantic, Rear Adm. Charles Rock. “Our mission is to support the Fleet, Fighter and Family and the team at Navy Region Mid-Atlantic has been working around the clock to provide support and information during this very stressful time.”

Parent commands must determine whether the individuals should evacuate, whether the location is covered under a disaster or emergency declaration issued by the federal or state government due to Hurricane Florence, and whether the location being evacuated is covered under a mandatory or voluntary evacuation order issued by competent civilian authorities, according to a news release from the Navy.

Navy Region Mid-Atlantic evacuees are authorized to proceed within 500 miles of the designated remote safe haven area of Asheville, North Carolina.

All others should proceed to the remote safe haven area designated by their parent chain of command. Individuals evacuating under this authority must be issued individual orders by the command, the Navy said.

Orders will include reimbursement for lodging, and per diem will be at the approved rate for the designated safe haven. Individuals authorized to evacuate who are unable to obtain official orders in advance of departing should keep all receipts for reimbursement and coordinate with their parent command upon return.

Costs incurred by an evacuee for travel conducted without authorization are the responsibility of the evacuee.

Personnel are encouraged to visit www.knowyourzoneva.org to determine if they are located in Virginia Zone A.

“Roadways, interstates and highways will be congested as residents will be traveling to various safe havens,” Rock said. “I ask that everyone traveling please keep safety in mind and remember to muster with their chain of command when they reach safe haven.”

All personnel and their families should update their Navy Family Accountability and Assessment System account at https://navyfamily.navy.mil, as well as review hurricane checklists. Service members are encouraged to discuss evacuation and reporting requirements with their chain of command and family members.

Navy Marine Corps Relief Society offices will remain open in Hampton Roads for as long as feasible to support Navy and Marine Corps personnel and their families with evacuation assistance loans.

http://

Personnel or family members should bring a current I.D. card and Leave and Earnings Statement, if available. Because of the sortie of ships and personnel, the active duty member is not required to be present for NMCRS to assist the family. Priority will be given to personnel residing in Zone A. For information on office locations go to www.nmcrs.org.”

Local cities and communities will have shelters open to support families who choose not to evacuate the area.

Personnel are encouraged to check with their municipality on locations, monitor local media and social media for information and updates.

RELATED STORIES:

Northam orders mandatory evacuation for high-risk areas of Hampton Roads

Here’s what you need to know about preparing for Hurricane Florence

American Airlines to offer travel waivers in the wake of Hurricane Florence

Navy directs Norfolk ships to ‘sortie’ ahead of Hurricane Florence. Here’s what that entails

Here’s how you can protect your pets during Hurricane Florence

Hampton Roads home prices drop following severe weather event, research shows

John Mangalonzo
John Mangalonzohttp://wydaily.com
John Mangalonzo (john@localdailymedia.com) is the managing editor of Local Voice Media’s Virginia papers – WYDaily (Williamsburg), Southside Daily (Virginia Beach) and HNNDaily (Hampton-Newport News). Before coming to Local Voice, John was the senior content editor of The Bellingham Herald, a McClatchy newspaper in Washington state. Previously, he served as city editor/content strategist for USA Today Network newsrooms in St. George and Cedar City, Utah. John started his professional journalism career shortly after graduating from Lyceum of The Philippines University in 1990. As a rookie reporter for a national newspaper in Manila that year, John was assigned to cover four of the most dangerous cities in Metro Manila. Later that year, John was transferred to cover the Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines. He spent the latter part of 1990 to early 1992 embedded with troopers in the southern Philippines as they fought with communist rebels and Muslim extremists. His U.S. journalism career includes reporting and editing stints for newspapers and other media outlets in New York City, California, Texas, Iowa, Utah, Colorado and Washington state.

Related Articles

MORE FROM AUTHOR