NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (WLNE) — New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell declared Wednesday as Hurricane Preparedness Day in an effort to get residents to be prepared.

The mayor gathered with other officials at the lowest-lying point in the city to stress the importance of hurricane safety plans.

“There’s a whole lot of land in the city that is not protected, that is fairly low lying, and we’re among those places right now,” Mitchell said. “And there are dangers even on the other side.”

Mitchell said that while the city has had hurricane plans before. the new one was a coordinated city-wide response using FEMA’s Evacuation Zone designations.

Zone A, the most at-risk area of the city, included the areas south of Cove Road and the perimeter of the South End peninsula.

Should evacuations become necess

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