County officials inched a little closer to landing an emergency watercraft last week with the award of a $94,600 state grant from the North Carolina Emergency Management (NCEM) 2024 Capacity Building Competitive Grant Program (CBCG).

Lance Swindell, Washington County Emergency Management Coordinator says the 23-foot-long boat could be delivered in the fall, if every thing works perfectly.

Swindell says 2024 marks the third consecutive year the county has received support through the state program that focuses on “providing funding for building local emergency management capabilities, closing preparedness, response or recovery gaps and assisting local emergency management agencies across the state with building capacity to effectively respond to all-hazards...