Hurricane Florence - September 2018

[Hraefn]

Read more: Area farms demolished by Hurricane Florence

It breaks my heart that livestock is left behind

 

[JerseyGirl]

It breaks my heart that livestock is left behind

I can't watch or talk about the pets left behind, the livestock, the tree frogs, etc. I saw a snippet of someone leaving their dogs behind in an outside kennel and I had to change the channel quickly.

Florence is just proof that even though it's not a dangerous wind storm, Cat2-5, that devastation and peoples lives will change forever by flooding from any storm.

 

[Gardener1850]

It breaks my heart that livestock is left behind

It's really upsetting to me that the chickens drowned in their overcrowed chicken houses. I wonder if some of them would have survived if they had let them go outside to at least have a fighting chance at finding higher ground? But maybe not, since those big farmed chickens don't usually get let outside.

ETA: I should probably be more upset at the economic cost and the food shortages this will cause-- that is staggering as well! But the plight of the poor trapped chickens really got to me first.

 

[Hraefn]

I'm with you both. There is an innocence in animals, and I think humans' who own them (regardless of pet/livestock status) should view them as living, breathing, responsibilities, rather than just personal property. If there isn't already, I think there should be tax write offs for transporting livestock due to a natural disaster. It is a business cost after all.

 

[Gardener1850]

Hurricane Florence's rainfall has stopped, but its "nightmare" destruction isn't over yet.
On Wednesday, thousands of evacuees were urged to stay away from their homes, rivers kept rising, and the threat of floods remained high in North and South Carolina. Many roads remained closed, and thousands of people lack power.

President Donald Trump spoke with state and federal officials at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point on the Neuse River in North Carolina. Trump said the federal government would do everything necessary to ensure recovery. He praised first responders and said the country mourns with the families of the at least 36 people killed by Florence.
"Our state took a gut punch and our state is still reeling," North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper told Trump, calling the storm "epic, disastrous and widespread."
"We've got a long road ahead in the days, in the months and even years ahead to make sure we build back."

Read more: Florence 'nightmare' aftermath: Rivers keep rising in Carolinas as Trump surveys damage - CNN

 

[JerseyGirl]

Body found in evacuation area next to Cape Fear River in Cumberland County

A person was found dead in the evacuation area along the Cape Fear River on Tuesday. Authorities did not say if the person lived in the area and didn't evacuate or if the body ended up there from somewhere else.

 

[Gardener1850]

Also across the ravaged region:

• Rivers are still rising in South Carolina and will continue throughout the week, the state's Emergency Response Team said Wednesday morning. • Some 2,600 National Guard men and women are deployed across the state. • About 800 power outages have occurred in South Carolina. • North Carolina farms lost an estimated 3.4 million poultry birds and 5,500 pigs, officials said. • South Carolina cotton farmers also were hit hard. Soaked ground could damage peanut crops, and hemp stems were reported blown over, the state said.

Rivers cresting, some twice
North Carolina's Cape Fear River is expected to crest at about 62 feet Wednesday, putting thousands in harm's way.

Brunswick County Sheriff John Ingram said in a Facebook video that officers are going door-to-door in the Waccamaw River floodplain areas to encourage residents to consider evacuating and to get ready in case it becomes necessary.

Many were outside enjoying the beautiful weather Wednesday, he said. But already the water is 3 feet higher than ever, and it's rising.

"We want to make sure everyone has adequate time to evacuate if these waters continue to rise and crest at the forecasted levels," he said.
Floodwaters rose and then receded in Conway, South Carolina, but a second cresting is expected.

Rivers keep rising in Carolinas as Trump tours Florence 'nightmare' aftermath

 

[Gardener1850]

The rain from Hurricane Florence may be over but North Carolina residents are facing a nightmare – exploding hog poo lagoons.

North Carolina is home to roughly 4,000 of these open-air ponds where farmers store pig excrement and allow the waste to decompose before using it as a fertilizer spray for crops.

As of Tuesday, at least two hog waste lagoons in the state — one in Duplin County and one in Sampson County — have been breached, meaning a structural failure caused the lagoon’s walls to collapse or break, allowing poo and urine to escape.

In addition, 13 of these lagoons have overflowed, 55 are nearly overflowing and nine of them are flooded, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality told Buzzfeed News. When lagoons break, hog waste and stormwater mix, exposing people who live close to the farm to contaminated water. The foul water also puts local ecosystems at risk after spreading to streams and rivers.

https://nypost.com/2018/09/19/north-carolina-hog-lagoons-are-exploding-poo-after-hurricane-florence/

 

[Jax49]

Did 'Downgraded' Florence Create A False Sense Of Security?
The 1 to 5 Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, which only measures wind speed, may not the best way to gauge a storm's ferocity, experts say.

Did 'Downgraded' Florence Create A False Sense Of Security?

Last week, powerful Hurricane Florence was downgraded from a Category 4 to a Category 2 and eventually a Category 1 as it made landfall – and this may have contributed to a false sense of security.

“The concept of saying ‘downgraded’ or ’weakened should be forever banished,” University of Georgia meteorology professor Marshall Shepherd said. “With Florence, I felt it was more dangerous after it was lowered to Category 2.”

 

[aThousandYearsWide]

List of food & water distributions and medical places, gas stations and stores that are open (in Wilmington area):
What's open post-Hurricane Florence?

Thank you Gardener! I actually have been having trouble with what's open. Today I tried to go to Harris Teeter straight out of work and it had closed at 6pm. We lost everything in our fridge from the blackout and conveniently I worked the whole time it was opened. I tried to go on my lunch break but the lines were too long to make it back to work in time. I think my work is one of the only places working It's regular hours (closes at 9). And it's not a market either, it's a thrift shop! However, I do know a lot of people that are itching to go back to work, so I consider myself lucky though.

 

[Gardener1850]

Thank you Gardener! I actually have been having trouble with what's open. Today I tried to go to Harris Teeter straight out of work and it had closed at 6pm. We lost everything in our fridge from the blackout and conveniently I worked the whole time it was opened. I tried to go on my lunch break but the lines were too long to make it back to work in time. I think my work is one of the only places working It's regular hours (closes at 9). And it's not a market either, it's a thrift shop! However, I do know a lot of people that are itching to go back to work, so I consider myself lucky though.

Is there still a curfew in place? I'm guessing that may be the reason for everything closing so early. You might need to ask your boss for an hour or two off to get groceries. Under the circumstances, I cannot imagine they would turn you down if you said you need a long lunch break due to the lines. If your manager or another employee is working the same hours as you they may have the same problem-- maybe one of you can go and shop for both? Praying for you that things get back to normal operating hours soon.

 

[aThousandYearsWide]

That man's quote is more believable, IMO. I believe they had no power and spoiled meat and no showers. I believe people are suffering and struggling right now, absolutely. But the "only bread and water" and the "people are trying to kill each other" seemed a bit over-the-top IMO. She didn't have anything in her house besides bread and water DURING the storm? I've eaten a few ketchup sandwiches in really hard times-- that would have been more believable to me than the "only bread and water" or to just say your meat spoiled and you had to eat PB&J. JMHO. Regardless though, the good news is they had some food and they survived. And I know more help is on the way.

I can give some insight to this. I do agree with your opinion on the "water and bread" statement seeming over the top, but unfortunately it could have been just that. Some people were out of power for five days and some still have no power. In my grandmother's house we were lucky to only two of no power. My family was so scrambled up before the storm they didn't consider stocking up on food for a power outage, and plus me and my mom had to work on the last hurricane prep day. Super markets were a madhouse each coming day before and after the storm. Stores ran out of water like 4-5 days before the evacuation day (Weds). My grandmother is like a gourmet cook so the notion of having food was there, but with no power ingredients are pretty much useless. We only brought saltines, cereal with no milk, and slices of bread. In the blackout days I ate cold ramen noodles and peanut butter crackers. There was a portion where one of the only things to drink was wine. One night I went to bed still hungry and scavenged the pantry until I found a jar of stale pretzels. Something similar happened today. We finally got power at our house, but we lost everything in the refrigerator so I had very little to eat today until after work. Everything closed around 6 so I couldn't get more groceries. I feel bad sharing these things because people definitely had it far worse then I did. I almost feel guilty for being so lucky when others lost their house or even their lives.

As for the people trying to kill each other. They currently have curfews due to some things that have happened. Yesterday it was 8pm and today it was 10pm. People are looting and several business break-ins have occurred. A customer today said they witnessed questionable individuals wandering around their neighborhood at night. There was a shooting incident at an Exxon station the other night that LoneTraveler mentioned in a previous post. A lot of people are on edge, but I do agree killing each other is a bit an exaggeration. People are just in fight or flight mode. When I was in the Super Market people were almost running into you with their carts. People are stressed over damage or losing work or filling up their gas tank. Hoping for normalcy soon.

 

[aThousandYearsWide]

Thank you again Gardener! Luckily I have off tomorrow so I'm going to stock up. Yes we still have a curfew and it is currently 10pm. Yesterday it was 8pm and my manager had to let me out at an hour early since I work in a neighboring town that had a later curfew. Thank god a customer told me about it! My manager had to look it up to confirm it. I heard today from a customer that someone they knew got fined $300 for ignoring the curfew. That was in Ash, NC. I also heard you get a warning first from other people.

 

[FrostOwl]

Two of the people who died during Florence were two female mental health patients transported in the back of a HCSO van driven by deputies from the sheriff's office. Apparently the van drove around barricades before it got stuck in rising water. The two women drowned in the van, while the deputies were rescued and taken to hospital: Sheriff says deputies drove around barricades before van flooded killing two patients
The women were not inmates, they were patients at a mental health facility, and was supposed to be transported to safety from Florence, but drowned without any possibility to get out of the van on their own. A horrible way to die.

 

[Gardener1850]

I can give some insight to this. I do agree with your opinion on the "water and bread" statement seeming over the top, but unfortunately it could have been just that. Some people were out of power for five days and some still have no power. In my grandmother's house we were lucky to only two of no power. My family was so scrambled up before the storm they didn't consider stocking up on food for a power outage, and plus me and my mom had to work on the last hurricane prep day. Super markets were a madhouse each coming day before and after the storm. Stores ran out of water like 4-5 days before the evacuation day (Weds). My grandmother is like a gourmet cook so the notion of having food was there, but with no power ingredients are pretty much useless. We only brought saltines, cereal with no milk, and slices of bread. In the blackout days I ate cold ramen noodles and peanut butter crackers. There was a portion where one of the only things to drink was wine. One night I went to bed still hungry and scavenged the pantry until I found a jar of stale pretzels. Something similar happened today. We finally got power at our house, but we lost everything in the refrigerator so I had very little to eat today until after work. Everything closed around 6 so I couldn't get more groceries. I feel bad sharing these things because people definitely had it far worse then I did. I almost feel guilty for being so lucky when others lost their house or even their lives.

As for the people trying to kill each other. They currently have curfews due to some things that have happened. Yesterday it was 8pm and today it was 10pm. People are looting and several business break-ins have occurred. A customer today said they witnessed questionable individuals wandering around their neighborhood at night. There was a shooting incident at an Exxon station the other night that LoneTraveler mentioned in a previous post. A lot of people are on edge, but I do agree killing each other is a bit an exaggeration. People are just in fight or flight mode. When I was in the Super Market people were almost running into you with their carts. People are stressed over damage or losing work or filling up their gas tank. Hoping for normalcy soon.

I'm so sorry. I believe you. I've been in situations like that in foreign countries (where people are rioting and killing each other over food during a disaster), but never experienced it in America. I pray it won't get worse. ((Hugs))

 

[Hraefn]

Two of the people who died during Florence were two female mental health patients transported in the back of a HCSO van driven by deputies from the sheriff's office. Apparently the van drove around barricades before it got stuck in rising water. The two women drowned in the van, while the deputies were rescued and taken to hospital: Sheriff says deputies drove around barricades before van flooded killing two patients
The women were not inmates, they were patients at a mental health facility, and was supposed to be transported to safety from Florence, but drowned without any possibility to get out of the van on their own. A horrible way to die.

How awful! Even if they were supermax inmates this is totally unacceptable and horrific IMO (if the driving around barricades is proven true).

 

[Jax49]

At least 40 dead as Florence leaves behind dangerous flooding

"At least 40 people have been killed as Florence battered the coast off North and South Carolina on Friday and into the weekend.

As of Thursday morning, the North Carolina Department of Public Safety updated the number of storm-related fatalities in the state to 31. The South Carolina Department of Public Safety reported having eight storm-related deaths, including two women who drowned Tuesday night when a van taking them to a mental health facility was swept away by floodwater. Officials in Virginia reported one death related to tornadoes connected to the Florence system."

 

[lonetraveler]

I'm one lucky person today. water receded enough for me to check on my home and it was spared from water from the flood that has totally destroyed homes a block from mine. I'm going to try to upload a photo of my neighborhood.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Horses found neck-deep in flood waters

Two horses at risk of drowning were rescued from flood waters caused by Hurricane Florence, according to animal charity Guardians of Rescue.Footage shared on September 19 shows the animals neck deep in what the charity said was eight feet of water.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Ugh, I can't watch the news anymore....

CBS Evening News on Twitter

An abandoned dog anxiously paces across a porch surrounded by Florence's floodwaters, when someone finally arrives to rescue him.