PUNTA GORDA — The Charlotte County Emergency Management Office has been nominated for two national awards for its program to mark stop signs with colored collars to help residents know their storm surge zone.

American City and County Magazine nominated the office for the magazine’s Crown Communities Award for Public Safety, and a national expert on hurricane evacuations nominated it for an award to be presented at the National Hurricane Conference set for March 2013 in New Orleans, according to Wayne Sallade, county emergency management director.