Fort Bragg is operating on a reduced-manning status on Thursday, as Hurricane Dorian looks poised to slam into North Carolina in the coming days.

The base’s adverse weather personnel, including contractors, will report to work as directed by their supervisors or chain of commands, and all service members need to contact their commanders for guidance, Fort Bragg officials said in a press release Wednesday afternoon.

"Drivers are advised to stay off the roads,” officials said in the release. “Low lying areas around Fort Bragg are subject to flooding, which makes traveling dangerous. As of 3 p.m. today, using the National Hurricane Center’s current track guidance and due to Dorian’s close proximity to the installation, we have increased the overall impacts to Fort Bragg slightly with much higher impacts to our east, and less to our west.”

For the latest updates, Fort Bragg officials said to monitor the National Hurricane Center website.

“At this time, expect winds to begin to pick up tonight with the highest speeds beginning tomorrow afternoon through the early morning hours of Friday," officials stated. "Maximum forecast winds of 30 to 50 mph are likely late tomorrow afternoon through evening.”

Light rain will begin tonight with moderate to heavy rain squalls, and occasional lightning can be expected starting soon after sunrise tomorrow through early Friday morning. Anywhere from 3 to 5 inches of rain is expected at this time.

Fort Bragg’s Department of Defense Education Activity, as well as Cumberland, Harnett and Hoke County schools are closed, the release reads.

“Unless the weather changes drastically, Fort Bragg schools will open on a normal basis on Friday," officials stated.

All 82nd Airborne Division dining facilities will be open Thursday, however, with the exception of Victory DFAC. Sustainer DFAC will operate on weekend hours.

All Morale, Welfare and Recreation facilities and services, including Child Development Centers and Child & Youth Services, are also closed Thursday, except for Callahan gym.

Womack Army Medical Center’s Emergency Department will remain open, according to the base release. The WAMC Urgent Care Clinic will be open Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Womack Family Medicine Residency Clinic will operate as a walk-in clinic from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Outlying and specialty care clinics will be closed Thursday.

For more information about Womack, visit the TriCare website or Womack Facebook page.

The North and South Post commissaries and exchanges will be closed, but Old Glory Express, at the corner of Reilly and Gruber roads, will be open from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m.

The following access control points will be open on Thursday: Chicken Road, Yadkin Road, Longstreet Road, All American, Simmons Airfield, Honeycutt Road and Randolph Street. For a live map on road conditions on Fort Bragg and the state of North Carolina, go to readync.org.

Personnel should call 911 if they spot downed power lines and (910) 396-0321 if they experience power outages in the barracks or other non-housing buildings.

“If you have a power outage in an on-post housing neighborhood and/or need to call in a maintenance emergency, please contact the Corvias Work Order Hotline at 866-206-1365,” officials stated. “If you see backed up water, please call (910) 396-0321.”

Officials said they are also asking the Fort Bragg community to take time to help clear debris from the streets.

“Please move debris to a location where it will not flow back into drainage systems,” they said. “Please continue to monitor the local news stations and Fort Bragg’s website and Facebook page for more updates.”

Kyle Rempfer was an editor and reporter who has covered combat operations, criminal cases, foreign military assistance and training accidents. Before entering journalism, Kyle served in U.S. Air Force Special Tactics and deployed in 2014 to Paktika Province, Afghanistan, and Baghdad, Iraq.

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