Inside Ivanhoe Baptist Church, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper bowed his head and prayed with members of the community.
“We pray that all of us together can help each other, love each other and get through this, and other storms in the future,” Cooper said while holding hands with his fellow North Carolinians and victims of Hurricane Florence.
The damaged house of worship was one of several stops made during his Tuesday visit in Sampson County. His purpose was to show support for residents, hear their stories and learn for future improvements.
His day began with a roundtable discussion at Sampson Regional Medical Center regarding Medicaid expansion and other health matters. The morning continued at Sampson County’s Emergency Operations Center,where he shook the hands of many first responders and county leaders, who he called “Sampson County’s finest.”
As an eastern North Carolina native who worked on tobacco farms until he went to college, Cooper said he knows how much agriculture means to the county. Cooper said he worked with the legislature and N.C. Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler on stopgap measures for farmers. For many of them, there’s still a lot of work to do.
“I know that this is the toughest time ever for farmers in eastern North Carolina and I want to give you my commitment,” he said. “We’re going to continue to work hard to try to help.”
He also thanked the first responders for helping Sampson County residents during a storm that he said was one of the state’s worst natural disasters, taking the lives of many. Thousands of roads and bridges were torn apart and Florence left the state with $17 billion in damages.
“Many of our emergency people who were out there working, whether it be fire department, police, emergency volunteers, had their own homes that were damaged and being flooded,” Cooper said. “They were still out there doing their jobs, still working at the 911 center and still doing the kind of things that they needed to do to make sure people were safe.”
After thanking Cooper for visiting, Clark Wooten, chairman of the Sampson County Board of Commissioners, spoke about how the operations room was packed with people helping people through the storm.
“That’s a labor of love and I can’t say enough about our people,” Wooten said before acknowledging Sampson County and Clinton City Schools providing shelters and working off limited power from generators.
Inside the center, Wooten said volunteers and emergency workers stepped over sandbags and stood in water to provide services. Wooten said it was hard to describe and a humbling experience.
“Government, in my opinion, has a lot of responsibility,” he said. “But the number one responsibly is to help people when they can’t help themselves.”
Wooten said he hopes the county budget moving forward can help the people of Sampson. As a former veteran, Dist. 21 Rep. Raymond Smith appreciated the first responders for their work and contributions.
“This community is very near and dear to my heart, because it’s all about people,” Smith said. “I really and truly appreciate every one of you for what you bring to the table.”
Smith also encouraged everyone to reach out to their political representatives.
“If they hear from you as their constituents, we can all sit down at the table and make a better Sampson County,” Smith said. “Thank you for everything that you do.”
After the operations center, Cooper traveled south to the Ivanhoe area. Many residents at the Harrells 1-A Fire Department, which provides coverage to the town, showed appreciation for Cooper’s visit as he shook their hands.
“I wanted to take the opportunity to come down into the Ivanhoe community because I know you had such a horrible blow because of Hurricane Florence,” Cooper said. “I know many of your homes were damaged. I know that this rescue squad and fire department was damaged as well. I want to thank Harrells Fire Department for stepping up and helping the folks here in Ivanhoe.”
He added that lawmakers are working with the federal government to shake loose as much funding as possible from Congress for repairs.
“I know that it’s frustrating always to know that help is slowly coming,” he said. “I know that some of you’ve gotten some help, but we’re going to keep working as far as we possibly can. You’re not forgotten.”
Community members expressed their concerns about lawmakers working together, insurance payments, debris pickup and personal conflicts with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Cooper added that the state is waiting for Community Development Block Grant for disaster relief, which is designed to help people with home damage. Water infrastructure and fears of having contamination wells was another issue.
Cooper said funding of $800 million was proposed to help small towns and counties with water infrastructure.
“We want to make sure that people who are on well water have clean water,” he said. “I know that’s a concern.”
After asking about testing, Cooper said he wanted to help with the process to make sure people are not drinking contaminated water.
Residents continued to share their stories about being trapped by flood waters and having to travel through the woods to escape to help people with medical needs. Cooper credited the amazing bravery of residents and volunteers who came to each other’s rescue after nearby rivers swallowed Ivanhoe. There was a consensus among residents that some street improvements were critical.
“We have to learn things from what happened in this storm because we know another one will come,” Cooper said. “I hope that it’s not in your lifetime or mine. We have to be ready for it.”
While talking with the residents, Cooper said he wants to continue to provide opportunities for improving infrastructure to help storm victims, with federal funding on the way.
“I’m doing something every day to help deal with the aftermath of the storm,” he said. “Our administration knows people are frustrated and people continue to need help, even months and years after the storm.”
The next stop in Sampson was Ivanhoe Baptist Church, where the governor met with members of the congregation, such as Lorraine Moore, who got married in the church. She’s been a member for more than 65 years.
“I’ve never seen anything like this with the rivers until Matthew and Florence,” Moore said after the visit. “It’s been devastating to all of us. The thing about it is that our local charities have been great, but it’s things from the state that have not helped us a whole lot.”
Some of the suggestions included better cell phone coverage, deeper ditches and cleaning out local rivers from trees and limbs. In addition to Medicaid expansion and improving water infrastructure, Cooper said he also wants to improve high speed Internet access to rural areas of the state through public and private partnerships — a proposal for the upcoming state budget.
“It’s important for not only business, but for medicine, communication and education,” Cooper said in Ivanhoe. “A lot of kids have Internet service at the schoolhouse, but they don’t have it when they get home.”
In Ivanhoe, Cooper also walked across the street to visit Black River Presbyterian Church, which was also damaged by flooding. Some of the repair work includes the resanding of floors, fixing the fellowship hall and the heating system.
“Overall, we’re fortunate,” said member Stefan Hartmann, owner of Black River Organic Farms.
Hartmann lost a green house and 12 acres of land. He was one of several residents who expressed concern about having a higher tax revaluation notice.
“It seems like nobody took the time to understand that we got flooded,” Hartmann said, noting it added insult to injury.
Next to other members of the congregation, he expressed his appreciation for Cooper’s visit.
“We really appreciate that somebody bothers to come to the southern end of Sampson County, which is completely ignored otherwise, and actually pays attention to us. We like that. We don’t know what’s going to come out of it, but it’s good for morale,” said Hartmann.
Saint Andrews Presbyterian Church of Raleigh is visiting to help paint the fellowship hall of Black River Presbyterian Church. Mark Hosey, a resident and member of the fire department, felt the same way about the support that began right after the flood. Members of the Saint Andrews assisted area residents as well.
“Just like in the beginning, it was the churches that helped everybody in need, and the churches are still helping people get on their feet.”
Emergency Management director Ronald Bass showed appreciation for Cooper visiting and listening to what the Ivanhoe residents had to say.
“We’re in the recovery process,” he said. “We got some ways to go, but we’re getting there.”
