A leader in Ivanhoe’s recovery effort following Hurricane Florence said the town is taking steps, along with local and state officials, to ensure residents are not stranded again in the event of another natural disaster.
Ivanhoe resident Russell Devane updated the Sampson County Board of Commissioners, saying Ivanhoe was making progress each day and not remaining “stagnant.”
At the county board’s October meeting, Devane and many others expressed issues — impassable roads, mosquito hordes, overflowing dumpsters — confronting Ivanhoe, whose waters had just recently receded after being underwater in southern Sampson.
Devane, Henry Burney and others accepted supplies and immediately began distributing them from the Ivanhoe Community Building on Dr. Kerr Road, itself one of the many washed-out roadways in Sampson post-Florence. The building was open on a daily basis for supply distribution to help those in need in Ivanhoe, which was essentially an island to itself in the wake of the hurricane.
“All the roads now are passable,” Devane said this week. “We are free as a bird now, and we can get out and move around. Most of the trash has been picked up, so we thank everybody who was involved in that. We are moving forward trying to get everything rebuilt in downtown Ivanhoe.”
Devane said Ivanhoe residents met with Sheriff Jimmy Thornton, Emergency Management director Ronald Bass and N.C. Rep. William Brisson at the end of October to discuss evacuation routes for those who live in the Ivanhoe area.
“If we have another flood down there, we’re going to be trapped again and we don’t want that to happen,” said Devane.
He said signatures had been obtained from all the property owners along Juniper Springs Road in support of extending the roadway from McKoy Loop Road to Jumping Run Road. Bass is expected to submit that petition to Brisson. Devane again expressed his thanks to all involved in the pursuit to see that access established.
“We’re moving forward down in Ivanhoe,” he remarked. “We are not stagnant.”
At that October meeting, the residents who live around McKoy Loop Road, including Donna Sykes, said the town’s people needed “another route out.” Residents, she said, had to go all the way out to Atkinson in Pender County, and turn back into town, or risk going through what Sykes and others deemed “an old woods road” and possibly getting stuck.
Once the flood came, Frankie Imes said Ivanhoe was “totally isolated.” He pointed to a hand-drawn map of the town, showing the limited roads giving access. Sykes, Imes and others suggested extending Juniper Springs Road to Jumping Run Road.
With the petition and other talks, that proposal is currently going through the proper channels.
Commissioner Jerol Kivett said he has been speaking with Congressman David Rouzer about the issue, and the congressman is inquiring as to any federal funds that may be available. Kivett also serves as vice-chairman for the Mid-Carolina Rural Planning Organization (RPO), and said that body is also very much aware of Ivanhoe’s plight. There has been some talk with engineers on how best to tackle the problem.
“We’re pursuing it as much as we possibly can and keeping it in front of them every meeting,” said Kivett. “We haven’t forgotten you.”
Board chairman Clark Wooten lauded Kivett and county staff and offered continued thoughts and prayers to Devane and the people of Ivanhoe.
“It is our strong desire and hope that we have a plan that, in a natural disaster, that avoids people being trapped in the flood and having to be flown out,” said Wooten. “We hope we don’t have another one, but likely we will.”