THE
Wednesday, September 24, 2003
CHOWAN HERALD
Vol. LXX, No. 39 Published in historic Edenton ... The South’s prettiest town 1# Single Copies 50t
Isabel unleashes its fury on community
Widespread
damage,
outages are
endured
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Managing Editor
Residents of Edenton, wide
ly known as “the South’s pret
tiest town,” and Chowan
County, were left to endure
widespread water shortages
and power outages last week
by Hurricane Isabel. The hur
ricane, which roared ashore at
the Outer Banks with a wind
speed of 105 miles per hour, hit
Edenton with winds clocked at
90 mph.
Heavy rains soaked yards
across the community. With
the soil already softened by
rainfall earlier in the week, the
merciless wind gusts yanked
many of Edenton’s oldest trees
out of the ground and sent
them crashing through some
of North Carolina’s oldest
homes. During the worst part
of the storm, some local resi
dents experienced 10-foot
waves walloping their pictur
esque homes along Edenton’s
waterfront.
But in the days that followed,
Chowan County residents
showed grit and grace under
the pressure of living condi
tions that were far from ordi
nary
After the fury unleashed by Hurricane Isabel the historic Chowan County Courthouse still stands in stately elegance in stark contrast to the confus
ing jumble of broken tree limbs and twisted signage crumpled at the bottom of the Courthouse Green. (Staff photo by David Crawley)
Peter Rascoe, public infor
mation officer for Edenton and
Chowan County, joined Cho
wan County EMS Director
Doug Belch and other town
and county officials joined
forces with a local volunteer
organization, Chowan County
Interfaith Disaster Relief
Council, to begin addressing
the most immediate human
needs. Using the EMS (Rescue
Squad) building in Edenton as
its headquarters.
Corporate neighbors Winn-
Dixie and Food Lion scram
bled to truck in free ice and
water, and to keep bread, milk
and other food items on their
shelves in Edenton with stores
powered by generators.
They were joined by many
volunteers and organizations
that assisted with providing
additional ice, water, hot
meals, and tarps for roofs of lo
cal homes damaged by falling
trees.
In the pages that follow, The
Chowan Herald will try to
share with our readers a bird’s
eye view of those heroic, dedi
cated efforts and their re
sponse during some of the
darkest hours ever experi
enced by people who never ex
pected to experience such dev
astation from a Category 2 hur
ricane.
Along with stories from citi
zens from all walks of life, we
will also be sharing the most
recent information on every
thing from getting prescrip
tions refilled to how to apply
for assistance.
(Editor’s Note: As the staff of
The Chowan Herald goes through
this tragic experience with you in
the days and weeks to come, we re
main very proud to be your neigh
bors and your newspaper We will
do our very best to reflect with can
dor and accuracy the resiliency of
this community.)
Open
letter
from our
Mayor
Dear Citizens of Edenton:
Isabel hit us squarely in
the gut, the aftermath of
which is disastrous.We are
severely damaged but from
the rubble is lifting forth the
greatest display of ministry
and community spirit that
anyone could have imagined.
Angels of mercy are
among us now, both from
within and from outside our
community. The Golden Rule
is alive and well in Edenton
and God’s Grace will see us
through tothe other side of
this catastrophy
Our greatest challenge go
ing forward is how we con
trol our emotions and pre
serve our patience. Please
continue to reach out to oth
ers, comfort each other with
hugs and encouragement
and remember that our An
gels are working tirelessly to
return us to a normal way of
life.
May God’s Peace be with
you and yours in the days
and weeks of trial that lie
ahead.
Roland Vaughan
Mayor of Edenton
Waterfront residents recount horror
BY DAVID CRAWLEY
Publisher
EDENTON — More Edenton homes
than not suffered serious damage from
Hurricane Isabel, including the water-
front home of Mayor Roland Vaughan.
Vaughan and his wife, Peggy Ann,
were riding out the storm as was their
neighbor, Charlie Creighton, when a vir
tual tidal wave hit without warning
about 3 p.m. The crash of water from the
Albemarle Sound rushed through every
bottom floor room of Vaughan’s house
and the estimated ten foot tall surge
ripped off the front porch of
Creighton’s, depositing it in the street.
“We were scared to death,” Peggy Ann
Vaughan said, describing how the wa
ter at times came up to her neck.
Creighton described his ordeal with
equal horror.
“We were trapped inside with the wa
ter ramming on the front of the house,”
said Creighton. “The whole house was
shaking and it went on for at least an
hour.” r
On Friday, storm debris, toppled trees
and downed power lines cluttered
Edenton’s streets and littered the city’s
waterfront, where all the houses suf
fered water damage. The storm marred
the facades of the city’s historic build
ings, chipping away mortar.
It also ripped apart the front of a
downtown department store and flooded
a building on Water Street that housed
the Northeast Partnership and the De
partment of Commerce. About 5 feet of
water still stood in the building late Fri
day afternoon.
Leading a damage assessment meeting
at the Edenton EMS building Friday
morning, Vaughan gave no hint of the
damage his own home had suffered, nor
the frightening ordeal he had been
through with his wife and neighbors.
Access to downtown Edenton was
blocked for most of the day Friday As
crews began clearing downed trees, their
work was sometimes interrupted by cu
Local homeowner Charlie Creighton experienced a terrifying ordeal as Hur
ricane Isabel ripped through his neighborhood. (Staff photo by David Crawley)
rious onlookers who walked through the
work sites and into town.
The city has asked residents and onlook
ers not to park and walk around downtown
so crews can continue working. Only resi
dents, their families, insurance officials
and contractors are being allowed into
downtown Edenton.
“We’re going to overcome this, and we’re
going to get past this,” Vaughan said.
bounty
manager
urges calm
Dear Citizens of Chowan
County:
No resident of Chowan County
will ever forget September 19,
2003. Unfortunately, there was one
fatality. Our sympathies are ex
tended to the victim’s family. For
tunately, there were few other ca
sualties.
All agencies — county, town,
and state and federal — per
formed heroically during the
storm and have sustained that ef
fort during the initial recovery
phase. As I write this letter Sun
day night, I am surrounded by
emergency personnel who have
not been home since Wednesday.
Many heroic rescues took place
that shall be recounted later, and
certainly, at a later time, official
recognition will be given to the
collective efforts.
But Isabel is history—and good
riddance to her! Chowan County
will recover quickly and will be an
even nicer place to live and work.
Our commitment to recovery will
be sustained and no one will be
overlooked. Today’s paper con
tains information on many recov
ery programs. More information
will be forthcoming.
In the meantime, please remain
patient and remain thankful that
we are alive and well.
Cliff Copeland
Chowan County Manager
n wtc te ^^
If you submitted news items and/or photos for this week's newspaper,
please be assured that they will appear in our next edition.
However, in the wake of the terrible devastation visited on our commu
nity by Hurricane Isabel we wanted to share with you the good news
that our community still stands, united and strong. We will survive.
The Chowan Herald Staff
If you need
to reach us...
482-4410
is The Chowan Herald's temporary
telephone number