75 daily $1.

25 SUNDAY

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2016 y o u r n e ws s o u r c e S i n c e 1 8 8 2 kinston, NC

closed roads and shelters trump talk

Businesses, residents previously affected by Hurricane Trumps locker room talk comment
Floyd need to evacuate because they may be flooded. A2 strikes nerves among athetes. B1

Then and now: From Floyd to Matthew,

hurricane preparation and response changes
By Dustin George
Staff Writer
When Hurricane Floyd hit Eastern North
Carolina in 1999, it triggered what The Free
Press called The 500-Year Flood. The
flood would cause significant damage to
more than 1,000 homes, flood another 2,500
homes and caused more than $300 million
in damages.
By Friday, Kinston expects to be hit by the
worst flood since Floyd.
Waters in the Neuse River are projected
to break the 26-foot mark, one foot less than
the levels experienced nearly two decades
ago.
While the results of Floyd and Matthew
are expected to be similar water damaged
homes and businesses, flooding and prop-
erty damage the way the city approaches
the two disasters has changed.
A lot of the biggest changes are techno-
logical, Tony Sears, Kinston city manager,
of what is happening.
Since before the storm hit, a variety of
Facebook and Twitter pages, from the City
of Kinstons official outlets, to Emergency
Services, Kinston Police and other social
media accounts have been updated regu-
larly with releases on storm preparation,
evacuation information and other pertinent
information.
Those are just things that didnt hap-
pen before, Sears said. Before, if some-
one couldnt hear an announcement live,
how would you communicate that to
everyone?
Communication isnt the only area the city
has improved.
Following Saturdays storm and the rise
A City of Kinston water reclamation truck drives over the Lincoln Street bridge Monday as a car turns of the river over the weekend, much of the
around to avoid the water. Residents in flood zones are being told to evacuate. Photo by Janet S. Neuseway Nature Center was under water
Carter / The Free Press by Monday morning.
While all of the non-native animals, fur-
said. The way we are able to communicate have done a pretty good job of using things
See theN AND NOW a2
with the public has changed, and I think we like Facebook to keep the people informed

FLOODING LENOIR COUNTY WATER LEVEL

Officials predict massive flooding How

flooding
happens

Water from the Neuse River is just feet away

from King Street on Monday. Photo by Janet
S. Carter / The Free Press
By Dustin George
Staff Writer

When there is no more room in the riv-

The Neuse River inches closer to the top of the King Street bridge as onlookers take in a view from Herritage Street on Monday. Photo by Janet S. Carter
/ The Free Press
City and county officials begin evacuations
By Michelle Taylor
Staff Writer
The City of Kinston and Lenoir
County officials ordered a man-
datory evacuation for residents
and businesses along the Neuse
River Monday afternoon.
According to the press release
sent out by Lenoir County Emer-
gency Services as of Monday at 5
a.m. the Neuse River at Kinston
was at 20.8 feet. The National
GiIVING UP ON TRUMP?
Weather Service at Newport-
Morehead has forecasted a rise
to 26.3 feet on Friday.
Lenoir County officials said
severe impacts comparable to
flooding from Floyd in 1999.
We are encouraging individu-
als to start preparing now, said
Kinston City Manager Tony
Sears.
Officials are asking residents
who live in flood zones to begin
preparing their property and
family members for flooding and
evacuation.
This is going to be a very dan-
gerous, life-threatening flood
and homes will be damaged,
Lenoir County Emergency Ser-
vices Director Roger Dail said.
Although some residents were
not affected by Floyd in 1999
officials ask all residents to be
prepared.
Cancellations
Lenoir - canceled for
the week
Greene - canceled for
the week
Lenoir - Community
College - canceled for the week
Jones - canceled today
This is very serious, and we
want to treat it as such, said
Kinston Mayor B.J. Murphy.
See EVAC A2
er, the water will flood the earth.
That is the projection for later this
week, when the water of the Neuse River
is expected to rise to more than 26 feet
in the wake of Hurricane Matthew, the
highest the river has been since Hurri-
cane Floyd in 1999.
The level at which the river is high
enough to flood is 14 feet. Monday, river
waters broke the 20-foot mark, and are
expected to continue to rise.
Despite no rain falling since the storms
passing on Saturday, water levels of the
river continue to rise, thanks to a combi-
nation of water runoff and ground water
feeding into the Neuse.
You have to do a calculation there, and
if the volume (of water) exceeds what
the river can hold, the water has to go
somewhere, said Hans Paerl, professor
of marine and environmental sciences at
the UNC Chapel Hill Institute of Marine
Sciences in Moorehead City.
Paerl has been studying the Neuse
since the 1980s, and said he and his col-

Ryan focusing on saving GOP majority
Julie Pace, Erica Werner and Steve People
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON | House Speaker Paul
Ryan, the nations top elected Republican,
effectively abandoned Donald Trump Mon-
day, telling anxious fellow lawmakers he
will not campaign for or defend the floun-
dering businessman in the elections closing
weeks. Pro-Trump members rebelled in an-
ger, accusing Ryan of conceding the election
to Hillary Clinton.
Indeed, Ryan said he would devote his en-
ergy to ensuring Clinton doesnt get a blank
check as president with a Democratic-con-
trolled Congress, according to people on his
private conference call with GOP House
members. While the Wisconsin Republi-
can did not formally rescind his own tepid
endorsement of Trump, he told lawmakers
they were free to do just that and fight for
their own re-election.
Trump fired back on Twitter, saying Ryan
should spend more time on balancing the
budget, jobs and illegal immigration and
not waste his time on fighting Republican
nominee.
Trump retained the backing of the Repub-
lican National Committee, which has over-
seen crucial field efforts for the candidate
in battleground states. On a conference call
with RNC members, chairman Reince Prie-
bus said the party remains in full coordina-
tion with Trump.
Everything is on course, Priebus said,
according to a participant in the call.
Still, Ryans announcement underscored
the perilous predicament Republicans find
themselves in one month from Election Day.
Recent revelations of Trumps predatory
sexual comments about women deepened
See gop A4
leagues are closely eyeing the rise of the
waters in Kinston.
While a lot of comparisons are being
drawn between Floyd and the expected
flooding resulting from Matthew, Paerl
said its hard to tell what to expect from
this weeks expected flooding.
The issue with Floyd was that the
storm stuck around quite a bit longer
than this storm did, he said. (Floyd) got
stuck over the eastern part of the state
for some time before moving on, and it
also covered a much larger section of the
state.
The difference in time is an important
one in determining how much flooding
See flood A2

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