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Agricultural, home, business and community damage estimates top $400 million
Story Date: 9/5/2011
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Source: PRESS RELEASE, 9/2/11
Gov. Bev Perdue today announced that preliminary damage assessments have topped $400 million for losses from Hurricane Irene. Uninsured or underinsured home and business damages are estimated at more than $40 million now, local government costs exceed $45 million and estimated agricultural losses have grown to more than $320 million.
These numbers could continue to change as teams on the ground continue to assess damages from the hurricane.
“We have moved quickly to provide every bit of assistance possible for the families, businesses and farms that were hit by Hurricane Irene,” Gov. Perdue said. “We knew the financial toll would be large, but our determination to help victims of the storm recover is even bigger.”
In a letter today to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack, Perdue requested an expedited major disaster declaration for 43 counties in Eastern North Carolina. Perdue urged that, without help, many producers will go out of business, and the economic ripple effect will be substantial, resulting in thousands of additional lost jobs.
Preliminary agricultural loss estimates reported to state emergency management top $320 million, with damages to corn, cotton, peanuts, sweet potatoes, poultry, swine and tobacco, and farm buildings, machinery and equipment. U.S. Department of Agriculture assistance would provide low-interest loans and other federal assistance.
“As you saw, Hurricane Irene devastated agriculture in our eastern counties,” Perdue stated in her letter. “Extreme drought had already withered crops and delayed harvests, resulting in even greater hurricane damage that might otherwise have occurred. We anticipate losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars, and we appreciate your willingness to assist with the recovery.”
The 43 counties are: Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Currituck, Dare, Duplin, Edgecombe, Franklin, Gates, Greene, Halifax, Harnett, Hertford, Hyde, Johnston, Jones, Lenoir, Martin, Nash, New Hanover, Northampton, Onslow, Pamlico, Pasquotank, Pender, Perquimans, Pitt, Robeson, Sampson, Tyrrell, Vance, Wake, Warren, Washington, Wayne and Wilson.
Thirteen counties have received a Presidential disaster declaration allowing families and business owners to seek low-interest loans or grants to help them recover from Hurricane Irene. Those counties receiving individual assistance include: Beaufort, Carteret, Craven, Currituck, Dare, Halifax, Hyde, Lenoir, Onslow, Pamlico, Pitt, Tyrrell and Washington counties.
Perdue has also obtained public assistance for 20 eastern counties to help local governments defray the costs of storm response, debris removal and infrastructure repairs. The counties are: Beaufort, Brunswick, Carteret, Chowan, Columbus, Craven, Dare, Duplin, Edgecombe, Halifax, Hyde, Jones, Lenoir, Martin, Nash, Onslow, Pamlico, Pender, Tyrrell and Wilson. Already, 34 counties have received a federal emergency declaration providing federal financial assistance to help cover the costs of emergency protective measures for local governments.
The N.C. Division of Emergency Management and Federal Emergency Management Agency have opened five disaster recovery centers to provide one-on-one assistance for those who suffered losses. Those centers are: Tyrrell Town Hall, 906 Hwy 64, Columbia; Dare County Center, 950 Marshall Collins Drive, Manteo; Carteret Health Department, 3920 Bridges St., Suite A, Morehead City; Mid-Atlantic Safety Building, 2871 Hwy 17 South, Chocowinity; and Hyde County Social Services, 1430 Main St., Swan Quarter. They are open from 8 a.m. until 7 p.m. daily until further notice. Other centers are expected to open in the next few days.
Perdue announced today that a temporary plan has been developed to return traffic to all of NC 12 on the Outer Banks. The plan involves the placement of a temporary bridge and will allow traffic to flow in less than one month. The governor has secured federal funding to cover the repair costs, which are estimated at $10 million. The N.C. Department of Transportation is working with state and federal partners to develop a long-term plan as soon as possible.
On Thursday, the governor signed an executive order that will make it easier for farmers and others cleaning up storm debris to dispose of it by burning under certain circumstances. Debris should be separated into separate piles for vegetation (trees, braches, limbs); household trash (garbage, paper, food, etc.) and other materials (building matter, carpets, furniture, etc.) It is illegal to burn debris if public pickup is available. Homeowners can burn yard trimmings – excluding stumps and logs more than six inches in diameter – if it’s allowed under local ordinances, no public pickup is available and it does not cause a public nuisance. For more information go to www.ncair.org.
Three shelters remain open in Beaufort, Dare and Pamlico counties, housing about 170 occupants. Less than 14,000 homes and businesses remain without power.
The state and 12 county emergency operations centers remain activated to help survivors recover from the storm and 29 counties still have local states of emergency declared.
Nearly all the beaches and coastal communities have been reopened and are ready to accept visitors for the busy Labor Day weekend. Hatteras Island, including the towns of Rodanthe, Waves, Salvo, Avon, Buxton, Frisco and Hatteras, is closed. Ocracoke Island is open to residents only but hopes to open to visitors soon. Areas of the Cape Lookout National Seashore north of the lighthouse are closed, but the lighthouse, Shackleford Banks and Harker’s Island are open.
NCDOT has authorized crews to begin clearing debris from roadsides in the 20 disaster-declared counties. For the latest road conditions call 511, visit www.ncdot.gov/travel, follow @NCDOT on Twitter or get the NCDOT Mobile, application for your smart phone (m.ncdot.gov).
Ferry service is running on its regular schedule from Southport to Fort Fisher, Cherry Branch to Minnesott Beach, Currituck to Knotts Island and Bayview to Aurora. There is limited ferry service for Ocracoke residents on the Cedar Island and Swan Quarter routes. Other ferry routes are being used for emergency response and relief.
All interstate passenger train services have resumed except the Palmetto (trains 89, 90). Freight rail service has resumed, but may be running slower than usual due to localized power outages.
Business owners who were impacted by Hurricane Irene are asked to take the following steps:
1) contact your insurance carrier to file a claim;
2) take pictures or video to document damage;
3) register with FEMA online at www.disasterassistance.gov (if the business is located in a federally declared disaster area of Beaufort, Carteret, Craven, Currituck, Dare, Halifax, Hyde, Lenoir, Onslow, Pamlico, Pitt, Tyrrell and Washington counties), or call 1-800-621-3362; and
4) Call the N.C. Department of Commerce Business Link at 1-800-228-8443 for assistance to assess financial impact on your business, reconstruct financial statements and prepare disaster loan applications, once a Small Business Administration disaster declaration is made.
Those who want to help hurricane survivors can donate cash to the N.C. Disaster Relief Fund by logging on to www.ncdisasterrelief.org. Emergency management officials recommended cash contributions over donated goods because it provides local officials with more flexibility to meet the precise needs of the storm survivors and also helps the local economy recover. The Disaster Relief Fund accepts monetary donations and is managed by the governor’s office in partnership with the United Way of North Carolina. Donations are tax deductible and 100 percent of donated funds will go to survivors.
The governor’s toll-free emergency information bilingual hotline remains open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. providing callers with information on what to do to begin recovering from the storm. English and Spanish-speaking people should call 1-888-835-9966. Deaf and hard-of-hearing people may call 711 (Relay N.C.)
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