July 18,
^ = rTF0RO 'IC 279
The Perquimans W eekly
350
Vol. 64. No. 29
The only newspaper for and about Perquimans County people
Hertford, North Carolina 27944
Bertha blasts North Carolina coast
Hurricane
weakens before
reaching county
By SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor *
Utility company and emer
gency personnel breathed a
sigh of relief early Saturday
morning when the worst of
Hurricane Bertha had passed.
“We were super, super
lucky,” said Perquimans
County Emergency
Management Coordinator
Todd Tilley.
Tilley said as of Monday, no
major property damage had
been reported to his office. He
said he had received unofficial
reports of damages to piers
along the river.
Tilley said Perquimans
County was lucky that the
storm weakened before hitting
the area. Had it not lessened in
strength, Tilley said the dam
age here could have been dev
astating.
Many people in Perquimans
County lost electricity at some
point during the storm. Power
company officials said tree
limbs falling on power lines
accounted for most of the out
ages. North Carolina Power
also lost its Winfall substation.
Most customers’ power was
restored by lunchtime
Saturday, however some were
without electricity until
Satvuday evening.
Town of Hertford Utilities
Director Parker Newbern said
he shut down the town’s elec
tricity around 7:45 Friday
evening. The decision to pull
the plug on the electric system
came after the Hertford Fire
Department responded to four
fire calls at one time, taxing
the unit’s resources. Once the
power was shut off, the calls
about sparking transformers
immediately stopped,
Newbern said.
In addition, Newbern said
his decision was based on the
fact that there were many peo
ple walking and driving
through town. With downed
power lines in several areas,
keeping power flowing to the
downed lines was hazardous,
he said.
“We just felt that it was the
right thing to do,” Newbern
said. “You’ve got to do what
you think is best for the safety
of the people of the town of
Hertford and the electric sys
tem.”
Both Newbern and Hertford
Fire Chief Sid Eley said if a
building had caught on fire
with the high winds, the result
could have been devastating.
Houses are so close together in
some parts of town that fire
could have spread rapidly and
would have been extremely
difficult to contain.
Eley said firefighters
responded to several alarms
and manned the station
throughout Friday night as a
precaution.
Both primary and sec
ondary lines were downed in
Hertford, Newbern said. After
riding the town thoroughly
early Saturday morning to
check all the town lines and
make sure they were clear of
debris, town maintenance
crews began re-energizing the
system around 7:15 a.m. All
four of the town’s circuits
were restored by 10:30, with
only spot outages after that
time.
Dorris White, General
Manager of Albemarle Electric
Membership Corporation, said
she worked by candlelight tak
ing calls about power outages
and keeping her crews
informed. Most damages to
EMC lines occurred due to fall
en limbs, she said. The outage
at the North Carolina Power
substation in Winfall also
affected EMC customers.
EMC , crews worked
throughout Friday night cut
ting limbs off lines. High
winds kept them from being
able to remove some that
required the high bucket until
the storm had passed com
pletely, she said. All power
was restored by Saturday
afternoon.
“It went a whole lot better
than I thought it was going to,”
White said.
North Carolina Power cus
tomers were also without
power, some for over 12 hours.
While municipal officials
were preparing for the
impending storm by operating
water systems all night
Thursday to make sure tanks
were filled before the storm hit
Perquimans County escaped major damages
when Hurricane Bertha hit Friday night/
according to Emergency Management
Coordinator Todd Tilley. Downed tree limbs
caused the most problems here when they fell
on power lines, leaving many without electrici
ty. Yards throughout the county were piled
PHOTO BY BRIAN VANDERVLIET, THE DAILY ADVANCE
with tree limbs durij^ the weekend, as resi
dents began the clean-up. Town of Hertford
Maintenance Director Parker Newbern said the
town will try to pick up ail storm debris this
week. Signs were flattened and crops sus
tained some damage, but the extent of that
damage won’t be known until harvest time.
and preparing crews, the
Emergency Management
Team mobilized for action.
Tilley said he met with the
team initially at around 5:30
Thursday afternoon. A second
meeting was held Friday
morning. Around 4:30 Friday
afternoon, the decision was
made to open a shelter at
Hertford Grammar School at 7
p.m. Over 100 people spent the
night at the shelter.
The team also opted to close
the causeway at 7 p.m. Friday
due to high water and debris
across the causeway.
Tniey said there were a few
problems at the communica
tions center with the battery
back-up system, but the prob
lem was shortly fixed.
In addition to wind and
rain, Tilley said he had
received an unofficial report
that a tornado touched down
in the vicinity of Woodland
Circle. Friday ^ternoon, a tor
nado warning was issued in
Chowan and Perquimans
counties. Unofficial reports
were received that a tornado
was spotted in the Bethel area.
Now, Hertford maintenance
crews are working to remove
the mounds of yard waste that
are piled up along the streets.
Newbern said he is looking at
possibly getting some addi
tional equipment and man
power to help with the clean
up.
“Our manpower is taxed
right now,” he said.
The town hopes to have all
the yard waste up by Friday.
Open Door Ministry consolidates services
By SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
The Open Door Ministry
wants to keep its doors open.
The interchurch, interde
nominational outreach min
istry provides food and finan
cial assistance to those quali
fying and operates a thrift
store. But volunteers are need
ed to keep the ministry viable
and serve those who need
emergency assistance.
“Like every other organiza
tion, we need volunteers des
perately,” said board member
Jon Strother, the minister at
Hertford United Methodist
Church.
Carol Cooper, acting direc
tor of both the food pantry and
thrift shop, echoed Strother’s
plea for volunteers.
“The volunteers we have
now are just stretched,”
Cooper said.
The ministry began almost
20 years ago in Winfall when
congregations from churches
across the county realized a
need to offer emergency assi-
tance. The concept of the vol
unteer organization is neigh
bor helping neighbor through
a difficult period. It is based on
The Open Door Ministry has consolidated its food pantry, finan
cial assistance and thrift sotre operations at the headquarters
on Highway 37 in Winfall.
the Bible premise of being
your brother’s keeper.
In 1983, the food pantry and
thrift store moved to Hertford.
Before July of this year, the
food pantry operated out of a
building owned by Willis
Jessup on Highway 37 in
Winfall, while the thrift store
remained in the old ice plant
in Hertford.
In an effort to become more
efficient, the board of Open
Door voted this summer to
move both components of the
ministry to the Winfall loca
tion. The building will be set
up with the food pantry on one
side and the thrift store on the
other. Cooper said. The thrift
store was closed for the month
of July to facilitate the move.
The board plans to reopen on
Aug. 3 at the Winfall office.
The Open Door accepts
referrals from the Department
of Social Services, Catholic
Social Ministries and church
es, Cooper said. Food and
financial assistance to pay nec
essary costs such as rent and
utility bills are available
through the food pantry.
Cooper said the ministry seeks
to provide help to those who
may have been laid off from a
job or a mother who has taken
her children and left an abuse
household.
The thrift store is open to
everyone. Anyone may pur
chase items from the store,
which may include clothing,
small appliances, baby needs
and toys. Proceeds from the
sale of items at the thrift store
are returned to the operating
budget to provide financial
assistance.
Cooper said there is always
a need for food donations at
the food pantry. Non-perish
able items are accepted at the
Winfall office and through
many county churches. Cash
donations may be made the
same way.
Gently used items are
accepted at the thrift store.
Cooid the ministry welcomes
any donations of items that are
in good repair and are useful.
In addition to the present
services. Cooper said the
board is preparing a communi
ty resources guide which will
contain information about par
enting and services available
to local residents.
All these services require
many hours of volunteer work.
Anyone with a few hours to
spare is asked to call Cooper at
426-5261 or Strother at the
church at 426-5467.
County declares
state of
emergency
By GINGER LIVINGSTON
The Daily Advance and
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
Perquimans County
Commission Chairman Mack
Nixon declared a state of emer
gency in the county Friday
night in an effort to keep peo
ple off the streets and stop the
sale of alcohol.
The declaration was made
shortly after 10 p.m. at the
request of Hertford Town
Manager John Christensen.
“We had a high number of
tree limbs come down and peo
ple were walking around and
we were worried about the
sale of alcohol,” Christensen
said.
The fallen tree limbs
brought down a number of live
electric lines and people were
not heeding police warnings to
stay off the street, Christensen
said. Hertford Maintenance
Director Parker Newbern said
that the number of people on
the streets and the safety con
cern that posed was one factor
in his decision to cut electric
power earlier in the evening.
Apparently the threat of a
hurricane didn’t concern some
Hertford night spot owners
and their patrons. The
unnamed businesses contin
ued to operate despite the
power outage.
Nixon said Hertford Police
Chief Bennie Murphy feared
there might be safety problems
and wanted to stop the sale of
alcohol at the night spots and
other businesses.
Christensen said once the
state of emergency went into
effect most people got off the
street.
Not all people, however.
One man who was standing on
the corner of Market and
Edenton Road streets was
injured when he was struck on
the head with a bottle.
It’s about us
The All of Us Care
Organization is a group of
Perquimans County residents
who are interested in preseiw-
ing a safe and nurturing envi
ronment for edl area residents.
As part of this effort, a random
telephone survey will be con
ducted July 29-Aug. 2. The
committee is interested in
soliciting area residents’
thoughts and opinions regard
ing prevention of problems
associated with violence, per
sonal safety, alcohol and other
drug use, and social issues.
'The interviews wUl take about
10 minutes and will be con
ducted by Perquimans County
H^h School students..
If you have questions about
the survey of the All of Us
Care Organization, call
Brenda Lassiter at 426-5741.
Outside
1
High: Low:
90s 70s
PARTLY CLOUDY
1
High:
90s
PARTLY
Low:
70s
CLOUDY
1
High: Low:
90s 70s
PARTLY SUNNY