Newspapers / Bertie Ledger-Advance (Windsor, N.C.) / March 15, 2000, edition 1 / Page 8
Part of Bertie Ledger-Advance (Windsor, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
Page 8 Wednesday, March 15, 2000 Bertie Ledger-Advance Wading out... with a soda in one hand and blood pressure medicine in the other WINDSOR - Law enforce ment officers across the county ;.twere called on to help with emergency operations follow- : *hig flooding from Hurricane Floyd. ' ; Officers with Bertie Proba- i:|tion and Parole helped with '■^evacuations, sometimes on •^.■boats; helped at evacuation ••^shelters; helped with road- :• “blocks; prepared food for Na- : tional Guard and other emer- ; gency personnel; etc. But members of that depart- - "ment were in the same condi- six inches of water toward Roy’s Service Center to see if I could be of any assistance. I could hear that a man had been swept down the river. I climbed on the running board of a tractor that was try ing to look for a man. He was no where in sight as the trac tor crossed the bridge. His body was recovered several days later. The tractor was not al lowed back across the bridge as the water was too deep and too fast. I was stranded and it took I could see minnows swimming in my garage... —RandySkinner tion as the rest of the county - some could not get into flooded areas. Randy Skinner, Probation/ Parole Officer III, lost his home :in the flood and wrote about his . experiences, including rescue ^ efforts to locate the county’s ! only drowning victim. Skinner wrote: It was some Itime between 12 noon and 1 ; p.m. when I had moved the state 'car and my personal car to an area just around the block, which I thought high enough to ;protect them. At that time, the ground was dry there. Water was probably a couple of inches deep in my yard when I heard a call on my hand held radio that a man was drowning on Cashie River Bridge. I waded through about four hours or more for me to finally get back across. I rode back on a National Guard ve hicle and waded past my house, past my state car and past my personal car. Water was up to both doors on both cars. Because the terrain is un even, water was at different lev els and sometimes was chest- deep as I waded. When I reached my house, the water was just at the bot tom of the back door and had not yet come inside. I could see minnows swimming in my ga rage. I quickly ran from room to room, grabbing clothes, pic tures, videotapes and other items I could fit and get into the attic. Water began coming into the B. W. Davenport and his wife, Mary, have been cutting meat for over 50 years. They and their staff at the Meat Shoppe are happy to cut your meat the way you want it ^Whether its ham, pork, beef, steak, a whole pig or chicken. Just ask. You*ll get your cut! MeAr “Open 7 Days A Week!” Hwy. 17 (City Limits) Windsor, NC 794-9655 It was an experience! By LAURA HARRELL WINDSOR - Dates and times just ran together, Windsor Po lice Chief Freddie Bowen said when asked to recall the events of September and what was done when. One thing about which he is sure: “It was an experience!” On Thursday, September 16, he recalls he watched the wa ter rising aU day. “It kept right on coming,” he said. Right after lunch men from his department w^ent to close off the Cashie River Bridge be cause the water had gotten so high. That meant, he explained, that a major artery carrying North-South traffic was cut off and an alternate route had to be set up around town. Some of the traffic came to NC 308 at the Cooper Hill Road and took the three bridges over NC 45 to Plymouth. Everybody going North had to use the Bull Hill Road to the Todd’s Cross Road. Before the night was over, the Windsor Police Depart ment was trying to look after a town divided into two sections with water extending from North King Street through town to the Heritage House on South King Street (U.S. 17), and eventually it was split into three sections, with water all the way from Edgewood Cem etery on the north to the U.S. 13 By-Pass. All services were at the Com mand Center located at the Windsor Fire Department. Just after dark on Thursday the water was rising a foot ev ery 20 minutes. Some evacua tions had been taking place all day but residents beyond the Courthouse to the Cashie River Bridge thought they were safe because flood waters in all the years past had never been beyond the stop light at the cor ner of Granville and King Streets. And many of these residents thought they would be secure in their upstairs bedrooms. Evacuations took place in the darkness of late night-early morning hours by NC Wildlife Service boats, military five- quarter vehicles, fertilizer (See EXPERIENCE, Page 10) When you came upon scenes like this, you wondered about the occupants and at what point they .abandoned the vehicle—or did they glide on into the water and struggle out—or did the vehicle \.just fidat from some distant point to this location? It was a frequent scene in the days following - .Floyd with thousands of car submerged in one way or another. (Photo by Carroll Credle) house and was probably a couple of inches deep when I left and began wading out, a soda in one hand and my blood pressure medicine in the other. I had called on the cell phone for a boat to come and get me, but no one showed up. I left the cell phone in the attic. It was getting dark but I managed to wade out to King Street towards Heritage House Restaurant. I reached a point where the current was too shifting. I was in sight of a roadblock and someone on a public address system called to me and told me to go back. He also informed me that I was in violation of curfew and could be arrested. I waded back up to a nearby porch and waited for a boat to come and get me. MARTHA PRICE Martha Price works as office assistant for PPG, and is one of those people who had to be evacuated from her home. Price said: The most difficult thing for me was leaving my home in the middle of the night by boat because the floodwater was rising. I had to return the next day to my home, passing homes that were flooded above the window sills and anticipat ing what I would find when I reached my home. It was also very difficult driving into town every day seeing the devastation and people’s entire possessions stacked on the side of the street for trash. The Town of Windsor is at its Crossroads — Crossroads. m Now Located At 129 U.S. 13/17 West of Windsor! • 794-2078 • ^ ^ 609 South King Street - Windsor, N. C. Open 5 am - 9 pm 7 Days A Week! 24 Hour Wrecker Service 794-3343 1^ AT'e ’re Back! jLVoy thanks all of our friends and neighbors who helped us recover from the flood. WeVe back selling cigarettes, beer, fishing supplies, gas and automotive t/ee Ape You Dreaming Of A Brighter Future? Make It Happen! We Can Set You Started In The Right Direction. Call The Admissions Office TODAY For More Information On Enrollment 792-1521 or 794-2924 MARTIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE Main Campus Bertie Campus 1161 Kehukee Park Road 409 West Granville Street Williamston, NC 27892 Windsor, NC 27983 MCC Is An Equal Opportunity Institution
Bertie Ledger-Advance (Windsor, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
March 15, 2000, edition 1
8
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75