75 daily $1.

25 SUNDAY

MONDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2016 y o u r n e w s s o u r c e S i n c e 1 8 8 2 kinston, NC

Editors note: Due to weather conditions from Hurricane

Matthew and potential flooding, The Free Press operated under Hope and controversy
early deadlines. Check Kinston.com, The Free Press Facebook Military health benefits are now open
page and download the Kinston app for updates. to transgender troops and dependents. A7

HURRICANE MATTHEW AFTERMATH

Flood damage More

Shawn Joseph saws a tree limb as he and his family remove fallen limbs and debris from Hurricane Matthew on Sunday on Stockton Road.
Photo by Janet S. Carter / The Free Press
Residents begin assessing
Matthews consequences
By Michelle Taylor
Staff Writer
Lenoir County residents and officials
spent Sunday assessing the damage Hur-
ricane Matthew left behind.
Weve got a mess, Lenoir County
Emergency Services Director Roger Dail
said.
Dail said almost storm sights
90 percent of Le-
For more pictures from
noir County was
the area as it deals with
left without power the storms aftermath, see
and 227 residents Page A6
were evacuated
to the emergency
shelter at Lenoir Community College.
Right now we are preparing for the
flooding that will continue this week, Dail
said.
NCDOT officials have reported 40 wash-
outs in the Lenoir County area.
Right now we are just surveying the ar-
eas we know about, finding out where any
others might be and barricading, said Le-
noir White, DOT accounting maintenance
engineer.
Residents have posted photos on so-
cial media showing washouts on N.C. 55
and on local side roads throughout the
county.
See DAMAGE A4 repairs to their homes.
Jamie Joseph looks around at the damage to her yard as she and her husband Shawn
clean up after Hurricane Matthew on Sunday. Photo by Janet S. Carter / The Free Press
Personal safety should be first priority
in cleaning up after storm or flooding
By Jannette Pippin
ENC Media
With the potential of damage or
flooding in the wake of Hurricane
Matthew, area residents are reminded
to keep their personal safety in mind
as they go about cleaning and making
Safety comes first, said Onslow
County Extension Director Peggie
Garner for North Carolina Coopera-
tive Extension.
The North Carolina Cooperative Ex-
tension has a handbook with tips for pre-
paring and recovering from disasters.
See SAFETY A2
to come
City, county officials get
set for more flooding
By Michelle Taylor
Staff Writer
Lenoir County and Kinston city officials hosted a
press conference Sunday, about flooding hazards.
The after effects of Hurricane Matthew are expect-
ed to cause the Neuse River to rise to flood levels.
At this time we are
preparing as we have
been told our Neuse
School canceled
River could reach 30 Lenoir County Public Schools of-
feet by Friday, said ficials are canceling school and all
Lenoir County Emer- school activities for students and
gency Services Direc- staff today.
tor Roger Dail.
River levels are pro-
jected to be 3 feet more than Floyds record of 27.7
feet.
Officials are asking residents who live in flood zones
to begin preparing their property and family mem-
bers for flooding and evacuation.
This is going to be a very dangerous, life-threaten-
ing flood and homes will be damaged, Dail said.
Although some residents were not affected by Floyd
in 1999, officials ask all residents to be prepared.
This is very serious, and we want to treat it as
such, said Kinston Mayor B.J. Murphy.
Officials are advising residents to stay out of
flood waters, stay off roads and to be aware of their
surroundings.
This flood will touch the lives of all of our citizens,
Lenoir County Chairman Craig Hill said.
Michelle Taylor may be reached at 252-559-1073
and Michelle.Taylor@kinston.com. You can follow her
on Twitter at @MTaylorKFP.
Mayor BJ Murphy, right, listens intently to Lenoir County
Emergency Services Director Roger Dail as the city and
county discuss Neuse River flooding hazards Sunday at a
special press conference at City Hall. Photo by Janet S. Carter
/ The Free Press

Rescues and worry after Matthew inundates North Carolina

By Martha Waggoner
and Allen Breed
Associated Press
FAYETTEVILLE | When
Hurricane Matthew dumped
torrential rains on North
Carolina, thousands of people
found themselves suddenly
trapped in homes and cars.
Rescuers in Coast Guard
helicopters plucked some of
them from rooftops and used
military vehicles to reach
others, including a woman
who held on to a tree for three
hours after her car was over-
run by flood waters.
In another dramatic res-
cue, a woman with her small
child perched on the roof of
her car had to be helped to
safety as the waters rose
around them, underscor-
A man walks across a road damaged by floodwaters caused by rain from Hurricane Matthew in ing how quickly Matthew
Fayetteville on Sunday. Hurricane Matthews torrential rains triggered severe flooding in North wreaked havoc 100 miles or
Carolina on Sunday as the deteriorating storm made its exit to the sea, and thousands of people had more inland after sparing
to be rescued from their homes and cars. Photo by The Associated Press much of the Southeastern
coast the catastrophic dam-
age once feared.
The storm killed more
than 500 people in Haiti
and at least 18 in the U.S.
nearly half of them in North
Carolina. Most were swept
away by flood waters.
Gov. Pat McCrory said
authorities were searching
for five people and feared
they may find more victims.
The problems were far from
over as all that rain more
than a foot in places flows
into rivers and downstream,
likely causing days of major
flooding in many of the same
places devastated by a simi-
lar deluge from Hurricane
Floyd in 1999.
Hurricane Matthew is off
the map. But it is still with
us. And it is still deadly, Mc-
Crory said.
Princeville, a town of 2,000
that disappeared in the wa-
ters of the Tar River during
Floyd, was evacuated Sunday
as the river was expected to
rise to 17 feet above flood
stage by late Monday a
level not seen since Floyd.
McCrory expected more
evacuations as some rivers
were predicted to crest next
Friday.
David Bullocks sister
called him as he bought lot-
tery tickets to tell him po-
lice were knocking on doors
saying they had to go. He
rebuilt his home after the
1999 flood.
If I get flooded again, I
cant take it. I cant go back
and take the expense. If I
get flooded again Im going
to say, its yours, Im gone,
Bullock said.
More than a million people
in South Carolina and North
Carolina were without power,
See MATTHEW A2

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