P8/C8******CAR-RT LOT*‘C 002 A0114
SHEPHERD PRUDEN LIBRARY
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
482-4418
50*
Storm recovery continues across the county
From staff reports
Chowan County residents
are continuing to deal with
some effects from Hurricane
Matthew
Although water service has
returned to normal for most
people in Chowan County,
some water customers in the
Morristown Road area re
mained under a boil-water ad
visory at presstime.
Most roads in Chowan
County were expected to be
passable by today but the N.C.
Department of Transportation
has reported that some roads
will be closed for a few weeks
as repairs continue.
At presstime, Highway 32
North, Yellowhammer Road,
Chambers Ferry Road and
Tynchtown Road all remained
closed.
The Chowan County Senior
Center sustained extensive
damage in the storm, including
major damage to the heating
and cooling system.
The Federal Emergency
Management Agency has an
nounced that federal disaster
assistance has been made
available to the state of North
Carolina to supplement state,
tribal, and local recovery ef
forts in the area affected by
Hurricane Matthew beginning
Oct. 4. The president’s action
makes federal funding available
to state and local governments
and certain private nonprofit
organizations on a cost-sharing
basis for emergency work in
Chowan and a number of other
See STORM, 6A
STAFF PHOTO BY
REGGIE PONDER
This carpet
was removed
from Chowan
Chiropractic
Clinic because
of flooding.
Residents recall flood waters, help from firefighters
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
T ? rector Deborah
Davis recently visited her
hometown in Charleston,
South Carolina, she had not
idea she'd be ordered to
evacuate because of a com
ing storm.
She also couldn’t know
that Hurricane Matthew
would follow her north or
that the place she’d evacu
ate to - her apartment on
North Broad Street - would
be so engulfed by floodwa
ters she would have to be
rescued by firefighters.
Davis, who’s lived and
worked in Edenton for six
years, recalled her experi
ences during Hurricane Mat
thew in a recent interview.
Davis said about 9:30 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 8, she noticed
water was beginning to
come up into her bathroom.
It was not a lot of water and
it was clear. Plus, the same
thing had happened in tier
apartment just weeks ear
lier when heavy rains from
a tropical storm had result
ed in minor flooding in the
apartment complex where
she lives.
So Davis did the same
thing she had done the last
time. She gathered up tow
els, blankets and comfort
ers and spread them out in
hen Edenton Hous
ing Authority Di
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Ruined furniture from the apartment that Edenton firefighers rescued resident Deborah Davis from during Hurricane Matthew is seen outside
awaiting pickup.
tier bat broom t<>soak up the
w;ilor.
But unlike the previous
storm, the rainfall didn’t
stop. It just kept coming.
Davis, who was sitting on
her bed watching TV, said
site looked down and the
items site had put on the
floor to soak up water were
now floatin';. And the water
was no longer clear but had
turned dark and muddy.
“Then I went to the front
door and opened it,” she
said. “Water started gusliing
in. I slammed the door shut
and called 911 for help.”
As she waited for help to
arrive, Davis said, she did
what, she advises her tenants
at the Housing Authority
to do in an emergency. She
gathered up some clothes,
her laptop and charger, and
prepared to leave.
Davis said members of
the nearby Edenton Fire
Department came to her
door to escort her to safety.
By the time they arrived,
water in her apartment had
risen to her waist, said Da
vis, who stands about 5 foot,
4 inches tall.
Davis recalls it being dif
ficult getting her door to
open. She would find out
why when she got outside
- the water was chest-level
deep.
Davis said the firefighters
took special care getting her
out of her building.
“They told me, ‘you might
want to turn your head and
not look down. Don’t worry,
we’ve got you and we’re not
See RESCUE, 7A
Chowan County approves bulletproof vests for officers
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
The Chowan County Board of Commis
sioners voted unanimously Monday night
to approve the purchase of supplemental
bulletproof vests for officers of tire ('1 rowan
Sheriffs Office.
The request from Sheriff Dwayne Good
win called for the vests to be paid for by
revenue generated by escorting transports
of wind turbine parts from the Northeast
Regional Airport to the Amazon Wiird Proj
ect area near Elizabeth City.
The county commissioners had post
poned a decision on the request at their
Oct. 3 meeting.
Goodwin told the commissioners Mon
day that just about a year ago the N.C. De
partment onVansportation had approached
sheriffs in the area about transporting wind
turbine parts from the airport to the Ama
zon Wind Project area
So far- Chowan has conducted 23 escorts
and traveled 5,450 miles, Goodwin said.
He said that fuel expenditures based on 15
miles per gallon in the patrol cars had been
$653.99. Tire wear has been calculated at
$118 and the cost of one oil change at $30,
he said.
Goodwin added that the deputies are
paid directly by the transport company for
assisting with the transports. The county is
paid $375 per trip in addition to what the
deputy is paid, he said.
The amount paid to the county so far for
the escorts is $10,169, according to Good
win.
The bulletproof vests of the type the
county is purchasing range in cost from
$250 to $900 each, Goodwin told the com
missioners. The vests he has selected are in
the middle of that price range and the total
cost is $6,800 for 17 vests, he said.
Goodwin said he had never brought a re
quest to the commissioners without a way
to pay for it, had never paid top dollar for
anything, and in the case of the vests chose
what he believed was the best equipment
for this department at this time. .
See VESTS, 6A
Kersey, Wadsworth vie for 2nd District
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
The starkest difference
between tire candidates for
county commissioner in
the 2nd District Is on the
question of whether to en
act stricter standards for
wind energy facilities in the
county.
The race for the 2nd
District seat currently held
by Commissioner Alex Ke
hayes pits Republican Patti
Kersey, 62, against Demo
crat Derek Wadsworth, also
©2009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
62.
Kersey
was a prin
cipal sup
porter of
the effort
last year to
millet* the
county’s
wrind en
ergy ordi
nance sig
nificantly
stricter,
including
increasing
the mini
WADSWORTH
KERSEY
Decision
2016
inmu setback for utility
scale wind energy projects
to one mile.
She said she would sup
port efforts to revisit the
ordinance and pursue the
proposed changes.
“These
setbacks
aren’t
right,”
Kersey said,
referring to
standards
in the coun
ty’s current
wind en
ergy ordi
nance.
Kersey
said she
doesn’t op
pose wind
energy fa
cilities in the county but be
lieves a one-mile minimum
setback would protect resi
dents from health impacts
related to the turbines.
“1 just don’t believe they
should be close,” Kersey
MORE INSIDE
■ Early voting begins Thurs
day in Chowan County - 2A
■ Take a look at ample bal
lots on 8A
said
Wadsworth is in no hurry
to re-write the county’s wind
energy rules.
He didn’t rule out revisit
ing the wind energy ordi
nance but said he would
have to hear a lot more from
constituents before deciding
to move in that direction.
“I think befire you would
do that you should hear all
the sides and listen to the
See COMMISSIONER, 2A
Deliberation on j
Apex permit Nov. 4 j
BY REQGIE PONDER
Editor
The Chowan County
Board of Commissioners
will meet Nov. 4 to begin
its deliberations on the
conditional use permit
application for the pro
posed Timbermill Wind
Project.
Charlottesville, Va,
based Apex Clean En
ergy Inc. has proposed
a 300-megawatt wind
energy generation facil
ity in the Bear Swamp
and Center Hill areas of
Chowan and Perquimans
counties. The project
calls for 105 wind tur
bines, 48 of which are
expected to be located
in Chowan County. The
turbines are expected to
be nearly 600 feet high
at maximum blade tip
height.
The project requires
permits in both coun
ties and also is subject to
state and federal permit
ting processes.
The county commis-j
sioners decided Mon
day night to meet Nov.
‘ See WIND PERMIT, 6A
v.' V
si 5