Carolina farmers fear the worst after Hurricane Florence
Farmers in the Carolinas, already dealing with tariffs, could face billions of dollars in agricultural damage from Hurricane Florence's winds and flooding; Bryan Llenas reports from New Bern, North Carolina.
As residents across coastal areas of the Carolinas begin to pick up the pieces from Hurricane Florence, they're also helping their neighbors with the long clean up ahead.
The storm has claimed at least 43 lives since slamming into the coast Sept. 14, spawning record flooding across North and South Carolina and leaving countless trees on residents homes.
In the coastal city of Wilmington, which has been nearly cut off by flooding, a nonprofit called Port City Proud has formed to help residents across the city clean up debris from Florence.
“I think every single crew leader said people were coming out and giving them hugs and were in tears because they didn’t expect anyone to come and help them clean their yards out, especially older folks and people with disabilities who reached out to us through our social media,” volunteer Drew Salley told WRAL-TV.
The group of volunteers have been meeting every morning before heading into neighborhoods hard hit by the storm to clean up debris for free.
“We drag branches out to the road, clean up yards. We’ve got a ton of rakes, tarps, leaf blowers, chainsaws if we need them,” Salley told WRAL.
As roadways have slowly reopened and additional supplies have reached Wilmington, residents have been heading to relief sites to get meals, water and other supplies.
John Davis grabs meals to had out at the NC Baptist Men's relief site at First Baptist Activity Center in Wilmington N.C., on Sept. 23. (Matt Born/The Star-News via AP)
“The numbers have gone up steadily,” Bill Fogarty told The Star-News. “We’ll be here as long as there’s a need.”
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Fogarty, the site commander in charge of running the tent kitchens outside the First Baptist Church Activities Center, said the facility has served more than 40,000 meals in four days.
Auxilia Gerard, left, and Lou Anne Liverman help to fill boxes for individual meals at the NC Baptist Men's relief site at First Baptist Activity Center in Wilmington N.C., Sept. 23. (Matt Born/The Star-News via AP)
He told the Star-News the numbers keep growing as residents return home to spoiled food, homes with power still out and schools that continue to be closed.
While cleanup is finally underway, officials still warn that five river gauges in North Carolina still showed major flood stage levels and five others were at moderate flood stage, according to the National Weather Service. The Cape Fear River, which runs through Wilmington, was expected to crest and remain at flood stage through the early part of the week.
David Covington jumps from a porch railing to his canoe along with Maura Walbourne and her sister Katie Walborne in Conway, S.C., on Sept. 23. (Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP)
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Logan Thompson, who runs a nonprofit and returned home to Wilmington to find a 60-foot pine tree on his home, told WRAL that neighbors stepping up has made recovery so much easier.
"I’m used to helping other people, so sometimes it’s hard to ask for help, but we really appreciate it,” he told the television station. “It feels wonderful. We have a wonderful community.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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