NORTH CAROLINA RELIEF HURRICANE RECOVERY UPDATE (January 2019)
CURRENT ACTIVITIES (RECOVERY STAGE) ● Critical repair assessments - Recovery efforts officially start Jan. 7th, 2019 ● Residential flood cleanup: assessment, mucking and gutting, debris removal, debris clearing, and mold sanitation ● Coordinated the New Bern Volunteer Reception Center (facilitated 1451 spontaneous volunteer hours) DISASTER PROFILE Hurricane Florence made landfall just outside of Wilmington, North Carolina on September 14th, 2018. Despite weakening in intensity to a Category 1 storm, 90 mph winds uprooted trees and left 800,000 people without power. Dumping 18 trillion gallons of water, Florence is the wettest tropical system to ever hit North and South Carolina. Record breaking rainfall, coupled with storm surge, caused a flooding crisis and emergency evacuations across the Carolinas. A total of 48 people have died as a result of the hurricane, 37 of which in North Carolina. The coastal communities of the state were some of the hardest hit, so our initial response efforts are focused in New Bern and its surrounding areas. OUR WORK All Hands and Hearts – Smart Response has been focusing efforts in North Carolina on debris clearing and residential flood cleanup. Having completed nearly four months of response work, we have shifted our focus away from the initial stages of relief (chainsaw work, mucking and gutting, debris removal), and more towards mold sanitation. With an impressive response from the community for cleanup assistance immediately after the storm, mold sanitation is the greatest need at the moment. Mold sanitation is a critical step in helping homeowners begin to rebuilding.