NCDP Clips 9/20/18

Flood waters teem with bacteria from human and animal waste, decomposing carcasses
N&O // John Murawski, Stuart Leavenworth // September 20, 2018
Summary: The public health risks from Hurricane Florence rise with every inch of flood water. Floods are notorious conduits for filth, indiscriminately sweeping away the flotsam and jetsam of civilization: raw sewage and “solids” from municipal water treatment plants, industrial solvents and potent chemicals, garbage and debris, and the carcasses of wild animals trapped by rising flood waters. But it could take weeks, if not months, to know how bad the contamination is. So far, neither the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality or any other public health agencies are known to have tested the flood waters for contamination levels, largely because these agencies are focused on the immediate response to Hurricane Florence. Toxicologists and scientists at UNC Chapel Hill and N.C. State University are planning to take water samples in flooded
regions, but the analysis of the results will take time.

Thursday roads update: If you must go to Wilmington, here’s the best route
N&O // Richard Stradling // September 20, 2018
Summary: State officials are still discouraging people from driving to southeastern North Carolina because of flooded and damaged roads, including large sections of Interstate 40 and 95. But so many people have been making their way down U.S. 421 between Clinton and Wilmington that the State Highway Patrol is warning that the two-lane highway is becoming overwhelmed. Drivers going that way can expect to be in traffic “for hours,” New Hanover County Emergency Management officials said in a statement released late Wednesday. “If you are safe and can stay where you are, we ask that you continue to stay in place,” the statement read. A better alternative, according to the Highway Patrol, is to take I-40 to Exit 373 at Kenansville and get on eastbound N.C. 24 toward Jacksonville, where you can pick up U.S. 17 south to Wilmington. That way is less direct, but all of those roads are four-lane.

Our View: Trump had a grand plan; we need it now

Fayetteville Observer // Opinion // September 19, 2018
Summary: President Trump got a closeup look Wednesday at the mayhem Hurricane Florence left in its wake across the eastern half of North and South Carolina. His reaction left no doubt that he appreciated the scope of the damage and the personal devastation that has left thousands of residents reeling. “We will be there 100 percent,” said Trump, seated inside a hangar at the Marine Corps Air Station in Havelock with federal and state officials. “All of the folks from the federal government that are around the table are confirming it.” He vowed a robust response from Washington as he was briefed on storm damage by Gov. Roy Cooper and other state and federal officials. “We’re getting all teed up for a lot of money coming down to the area,” Trump said.“The money will come as fast as you need it.” But adequate federal funding for a rebuilding effort is only one chapter in what needs to be a much more extensive story. A decision to simply rebuild what was destroyed in the hurricane and the flooding would be dangerously shortsighted. As Gov. Cooper put it on Tuesday, “When you have two 500-year floods within two years of each other, it’s pretty clear it’s not a 500-year flood.” He said long-range planning is the key. “We will have to look at flooded properties, work on mitigation and buyouts and being smart about how we recover.”

Duke Energy must curb its use of methane. It’s fueling hurricanes.
N&O // Jim Warren // September 19, 2018
Summary: The latest in a recent string of monster storms, Hurricane Florence again demonstrates the accelerating cost of climate pollution. The people of North Carolina and the executives of Duke Energy – one of the world’s largest utilities – must finally begin an open,,democratic discussion about how the Charlotte-based corporation could use its enormous resources to help avert runaway climate chaos. Cheaper, clean-energy solutions are ready to replace fossil-fueled electricity, and the ticking climate clock demands that Duke Energy begin that transition today. Instead, Duke is going the wrong way. In addition to its decades of burning coal, the utility has been aggressively expanding its use of fracked “natural” gas – methane – while opposing requirements to curb methane venting and leakage. This is amplifying global heating at the worst possible time.

GUEST EDITORIAL: Nature roars. Washington hears nothing.
WRAL // CBC Opinion // September 19, 2018
Summary: As if this past summer of merciless heat waves, droughts and megafires were not warning enough, in the past several days the elements sounded another alarm about the state of a world made warmer by the burning of fossil fuels. It came in the form of a one-two punch of wind and rainfall from Hurricane Florence, which like Hurricane Harvey a year ago, has derived much of its wallop from unusually warm ocean waters and stalled weather systems linked to climate change. “Supercharged” is the word one prominent climate scientist, Michael Mann, used to describe Florence, echoing the findings of the federal Global Change report in 2014 that, along with a rise in other extreme weather events, “hurricane intensity and rainfall are projected to increase as the climate continues to warm.” To no one’s surprise, this linkage went unacknowledged in President Trump’s Washington. Quite the contrary. On Tuesday, in a further retreat from President Barack Obama’s ambitious promises to reduce America’s emissions of the greenhouse gases deemed largely responsible for global warming, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed weakening rules aimed at reducing leaks of methane from oil and gas operations. Methane, a principal component of natural gas, is a short-lived but potent greenhouse gas that represents about 9 percent of this country’s total greenhouse gas emissions; one-third of it comes from oil and gas operations.

Lumberton didn’t fix a big weakness before Florence. So residents tried a DIY defense.
N&O // Colin Campbell // September 19, 2018
Summary: As Hurricane Florence approached, 100 volunteers came together to fill sandbags at Lumberton’s most vulnerable spot: A railroad underpass crossing beneath Interstate 95 and the Lumber River levee. It’s the place where floodwaters spilled into neighborhoods during Hurricane Matthew in 2016 — a weakness local leaders had hoped to fix before the next big storm. The city has money for a floodgate system that could plug the underpass, but construction isn’t scheduled to start until next year, according to the Golden LEAF Foundation, which gave Lumberton a $1.25 million grant for the project.

Lessons learned should mean easier recovery
The Robesonian // Opinion // September 19, 2018
Summary: We don’t have a reliable way to quantify, but it appears to us that aid has gotten to the county more quickly than following Matthew. There are numerous efforts to provide people food, and already Lumberton has a warehouse operating for people to donate items that can be distributed later to those in need. The county will follow soon with its distribution center. This is not to diminish the suffering. It is immense again in South and West Lumberton, which are in peril of becoming ghost towns. When the time is right, the city must move quickly and aggressively to place floodgates under the Interstate 95 overpass where CSX trains travel. If that means the Governor’s Office must step in to capture right-of-way, then so be it. But the best lesson from Matthew might be found in hastening the relief to those who have lost so much or everything. Almost two years after Matthew and before Florence arrived, there was growing angst over the state’s inability to deliver federal dollars intended to help Robeson County residents and businesses get back on their feet. While fingers were pointed in all directions in an effort to gain political capital, there simply cannot be a repeat of this performance. Relief dollars need to get here swiftly, without the delay we have seen with Matthew. Should that not happen, it would surpass unconscionable and approach criminal.

Lagoons of pig waste are overflowing after Florence. Yes, that's as nasty as it sounds.
WRAL // Kendra Pierre- Louis // September 19, 2018,
Summary: The record-breaking rains that started with Hurricane Florence are continuing to strain North Carolina’s hog lagoons. Because of the storm, at least 77 lagoons in the state have either released pig waste into the environment or are at imminent risk of doing so, according to data issued Tuesday by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality. That tally more than doubled from the day before, when the department’s count was 34.

Firefighters work to feed residents trapped in Southport after Florence destroys main road
WRAL // Kasey Cunningham // September 19, 2018
Summary: Beach towns are slowly reopening to residents, but most are still closed to tourists following Hurricane Florence. Some roads in Brunswick County are completely washed out, including Bethel Road, which is the only way in and out for Southport residents. A path carved out in the brush, built with a few wood planks, is now the only available route. For the first time since Florence ravaged the coast, residents on Wednesday were able to see their homes, or what is left of them, but getting home turned out to be much harder than leaving.

EDITORIAL: Keeping perspective -- conditions improving, but not for all
Star News // Gatehouse Media NC // September 19, 2018
Summary: In a column Tuesday, Tom Campbell noted the furious F’s -- Fran, Floyd and Florence, the three major hurricanes that have slammed North Carolina in recent years. In the aftermath of Florence, we are thinking about two important P’s -- patience and perspective. Even though the sun’s been shining, conditions on the ground in Coastal N.C. remain very dark -- depending on where you happen to be. In an editorial Tuesday, we pleaded for patience -- with public and private officials, and with each other. We also should strive to keep our own situations in perspective. Five days since Florence began a slow, devastating trek across the Carolinas, circumstances for many people have improved. But many people remain in life-threatening situations, and flooding will worsen in some areas. As Gov. Roy Cooper said Tuesday, it feels like “a nightmare that just won’t end.” We hope you are safe and now able to concentrate more on recovery than on survival. We feel fortunate and blessed to once again be working in a well-lighted, air-conditioned room and not worrying where our next meal will come from. Our lot improved so much in two days that we found ourselves forgetting the dire -- and often dangerous -- conditions so many people still face. A quick look at the most recent headlines was a stark reminder of our own need for perspective.

HURRICANE FLORENCE: Worst of floods yet to come

Star News // Tim Buckland // September 19, 2018
Summary: The Cape Fear River in Fayetteville, the Northeast Cape Fear River near Burgaw and the Black River near Currie either have broken or could break flood stage records in the wake of Hurricane Florence. The waterways have something else in common. “It’s all coming toward us” in Wilmington, said Reid Hawkins, science officer for the National Weather Service office in Wilmington. The rivers, along with other creeks and tributaries, ultimately merge just north of downtown Wilmington before flowing to the Atlantic.

Trump asks about conditions inarea near one of his golf courses while surveying Hurricane Florence damage in North Carolina
Business Insider // John Haltiwanger // September 19, 2018
Summary: When President Donald Trump arrived in North Carolina on Wednesday to survey the damage from Hurricane Florence, he seemed to be particularly interested in the conditions near one of his golf courses. During a briefing at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, Trump asked Lynn Good, chairman and CEO of Duke Energy, how things were near Lake Norman. Good told Trump things were "good," adding, "but still 10 or 12 inches of rain." "I love that area. I can't tell you why, but I love that area," Trump said in response.

Florence death toll climbs to 37; President Trump visits storm-ravaged North Carolina
Press Democrat // Chuck Burton, Martha Waggoner // September 19, 2018
Summary: The death toll from Hurricane Florence climbed to at least 37, including two mental health patients who drowned when a sheriff's van was swept away by floodwaters, and North Carolina's governor pleaded with thousands of evacuees not to return home just yet. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, arrived in storm-ravaged North Carolina on Wednesday, visiting a church in the hard-hit coastal of town New Bern where volunteers have been handing out food to storm victims. Wilmington, population 120,000, was still mostly an island surrounded by floodwaters, and people waited for hours Tuesday for handouts of food, water and tarps. Thousands of others around the state waited in shelters for the all-clear. "I know it was hard to leave home, and it is even harder to wait and wonder whether you even have a home to go back to," Gov. Roy Cooper said.

Trump at Cherry Point: "You will recover"
WITN // Staff // September 19, 2018
Summary: President Donald Trump spoke with state and local officials this morning at Cherry Point before leaving for a tour of hurricane damage in Craven County. Air Force One landed at the air station around 10:25 a.m. and the president spent about a half hour in a round-table discussion in a hangar at the air station. "Our entire American family is with you. You will recover," the president said at Cherry Point. "Whatever we have to do at the federal level we will be there 100%". Governor Roy Cooper joined the president for the briefing on base. "We have weathered storms before," Cooper told Trump. "Mr. President, we have never seen one like this before." Trump is now touring damaged areas in Craven County and is expected to then fly to South Carolina later today.

Hurricane Florence flooding in North Carolina concerns Lumbee Indian tribe in Baltimore
Baltimore Sun // Christina Tkacik // September 19, 2018
Summary: Days after Hurricane Florence made landfall in North Carolina, drone footage shows much of Lumberton submerged in rust-colored water. It’s a particularly horrifying sight to many in Baltimore’s Lumbee Indian community. “We’re all upset, we’re all worried about family,” said Rosie Bowen, who owns Rose’s Bakery in Northeast Market. “For a lot of Lumbees here in Baltimore, that is their home.” Bowen’s father was one of thousands of Lumbee who migrated here for work after WWII. But many retain close ties to their roots. Bowen drives to Lumberton to get many of the ingredients for the treats she sells at her bakery — including sweet potatoes to make bread and pies in the fall. She even owns a house in North Carolina, in a neighborhood hit hard by flooding.

Climate Change’s Influence on Hurricane Florence: a Wetter and Larger Storm?
Weather // Jeff Masters // September 18, 2018
Summary: Climate change made Florence’s most intense rains over North Carolina more than 50% greater in magnitude than they would have been otherwise, according to a first-of-its-kind experimental “pre-attribution” study done last week as the storm was approaching landfall. Florence was also likely 8 – 9% greater in areal size due to climate change, and the storm was more likely to stay at a high Saffir-Simpson category as it approached landfall, the researchers found, using a climate model that generated forecasts with and without climate change factored in. The research, led by Dr. Kevin Reed of Stony Brook University’s Climate Extremes Modeling Group, used techniques that researchers have been performing with increasing confidence and sophistication since the first “attribution studies” linking specific weather events to climate change began appearing about five years ago. The Hurricane Florence research was unique because it used a forecast of an event that had not yet occurred, instead of an after-the-fact look at a past weather event.

Hurricane Florence brings familiar tragedy to a beleaguered Carolina community still cleaning up from Matthew
NBC News // Phil McCausland // September 18, 2018
Summary: Pastor Roy Rogers spent more than 20 years in the Army, but here, in his hometown, tucked in North Carolina’s Inner Banks some 70 miles from the ocean, is where he’s seen the most tragedy. After Hurricane Florence brought heavy rains and storm surges that flooded the Lumber River on Thursday, his town once again disappeared under feet of brown murky water only two years after Hurricane Matthew did almost the same exact thing. Now Rogers, who turned 63 on Monday, has turned his church — appropriately named "Divine Refuge Ministries" — into a refugee center of sorts for the displaced in a North Carolina town that is among the poorest in the state.

North Carolina investigating 650 Hurricane Florence price gouging complaints
Herald Sun // Will Doran // September 18, 2018
Summary: Tropical Storm Florence is flooding North Carolina with more than just water. State officials have begun investigating more than 600 reports of price gouging in the wake of the storm, which hit the coast as a Category 1 hurricane early Friday morning. Price gouging is illegal during disasters and disaster recovery. Its definition under North Carolina law is somewhat ambiguous — there are plenty of economic factors that inspectors must consider, both pro and con, to make their case — but in general it’s when businesses charge prices for their goods or services that are “unreasonably excessive under the circumstances.”

Fear near Cape Fear rises with the river, and the death toll from Florence keeps growing
CNN // Holly Yan, Kaylee Hartung // September 18, 2018
Summary:Few places in North Carolina got rain on Tuesday, but that didn't stop some bloated rivers from rising. Fourteen river gauges recorded levels above major flood stage, the North Carolina Emergency Management agency tweeted. Many of those waterways were rising or cresting, though a few were receding. The Cape Fear River near Fayetteville was rising and has quadrupled in depth, and it's only going to get worse -- likely bringing more misery. But there are glimmers of hope in the wake of Florence. Some North Carolina residents were being told they can return home to the beachside community of Wrightsville.