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Seniors win medals
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^ P4/C3***********5-DIC
PERQUIMANS COUNTY LIB|
110 W ACADEMY ST
HERTFORD, NC 27944-13C
imiiEn:
JUN 1 9 2002
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11
i r
June 19, 2002
Vol. 70, No. 25 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
35 cents
Winds rip through Hertford Friday
John Moore described
the winds that hit Hertford
Friday as blowing “real,
real, real hard.”
The resident of Miller
and Meads Mobile Home
Park said he was outside
Friday afternoon when
hard rains sent him run
ning into his mobile home.
While inside, he heard hard
rains and wind, but stayed
away from the windows of
his home, so he did not see
the storm pass through.
When he went back out
side when the weather
cleared, he saw that his
next door neighbor’s
mobile home had suffered
damage to its siding, and
another’s steps had been
completely blown away.
Soon, the mobile home
park was filled with people
surveying damage and
checking on friends and
family in the neighborhood
on Hertford’s western edge.
“We are blessed,” Moore
said. “We don’t have any
electricity, but I told my
wife we’ve still got our lives
and that’s the most impor
tant thing.”
A couple of doors down,
Charlene Brothers had
gathered with her neigh
bors. She said she looked at
her window as the brunt of
the storm passed and saw
hail as big as her fists. Her
home did not sustain any
damage.
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Family and friends try to cover the damage done to the mobile home of Richard Gilbert after Friday's thun
derstorms, which spawned strong winds, ripped through Miller and Meads Mobile Home Park. The winds cut a
swatch about a mile wide, starting behind the Riverwind Subdivision and stretching north to Belvidere Road
and south to Ballahack Road. The wind moved all the way through Hertford and Winfall.
Throughout the park,
residents were covering
gaping holes where roofs
were ripped off, windows
blown out and siding pulled
off Many homes had lost or
damaged skirting. One was
knocked off its blocks.
Mobile home park owner
Joe Meads said at least
three home sustained
heavy damage, with a total
of about 20 of the 80 homes
in the park receiving some
kind of damage.
Meads’ home is at the
edge of the park, and his
roof was peeled back in
places, with shingles bro
ken off by the force of the
wind. He said he didn’t
realize the extent of the
damage the evening of the
storm. It was later when he
was trying to repair the
damage that he realized
how bad it was.
“I’m going to have to call
Hertford to
get new fire
pumper
SUSAN R. HARRIS
They were ready to move quick
ly when grant money was avail
able, and now the Town of
Hertford will be rewarded for its
preparation with a new fire truck.
The town received a grant for
$125,000 from USDA Rural
Development to purchase a new
pumper. The total cost of the
truck will be $190,000.
“The town was very fortunate,
the timing was good,” said Town
Manager John Christensen.
Christensen said town officials
knew the Hertford Fire
Department’s 1962 pumper needed
to be replaced, but couldn’t afford
to purchase one from its general
fund budget.
Rural Development was near
the end of its funding year, and
district offices were turning back
in unused funds and they were
being reallocated on a need basis.
This district got $125,000 for redis
tribution. Christensen and fire
department personnel moved
quickly to complete a grant appli
cation.
Christensen said he even went
to Raleigh to lobby for funds.
Hertford was rewarded for its
efforts with the entire $125,000.
The town will borrow the
remaining $65,000 to buy the
truck.
Christensen said that each year
the pumper had to be tested to cer
tified. And each year, firefighters
held their breath, knowing that it
might not pass the test.
Had the pumper not passed its
certification test, Hertford’s pro
tection rating would have risen,
thereby causing insurance rates
for local residents to rise dramati
cally, Christensen said.
With the age of the truck, spare
parts are not available, and keep
ing the pumper in working order
has been challenging at times.
Bowles strikes Hertford
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Erskine Bowles, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, addresses a crowd of about 75 sup
porters at Captain Bob's Restaurant in Hertford Saturday morning.
Bowles casts difference with Dole
ROBERT SHILES
The Daily Advance
While he still has to win the
Democratic primary to become
his party's nominee, U.S. Senate
hopeful Erskine Bowles is
already making sure people
understand there are major dif
ferences between him and
Republican Elizabeth Dole, the
likely Republican nominee to
replace retiring Sen. Jesse
Helms.
During Saturday's campaign
Stop at Captain Bob's Restaurant
in Hertford, Bowles told a crowd
of approximately 75 people
about his views on three issues
— Social Security, the environ
ment, and prescription drugs.
On each issue, Bowles said he
believes his ideas would be more
beneficial to the nation than the
ideas of Dole and the Republican
Party.
Social Security needs to be
protected, he said, and to accom
plish that there must be “fiscal
responsibility.” This fiscal
responsibility requires extend
ing the life of the Social Security
Fund, Bowles added, not priva
tizing the system as Dole advo
cates.
Continued on page 8
my insurance company,
said the former building
contractor. “L thought I
could just repair it, but it’s
going to have to be
replaced.”
Meads, who also owns a
convenience store on the
east side of the park, said
he was outside the store
when he saw the storm
coming. He said he hurried
into the store and then
struggled to keep the door
closed as the winds created
suction that kept pulling it
open.
“I’ve never had a man
pull on a door that hard,”
he said.
Another man was help
ing him to keep the door
pulled shut. Just as Meads
reached for his keys to lock
the door, the winds sub
sided. He said the winds
were gone in about 3 min
utes.
Two electric poles in the
park were toppled.
Meads said he does not
have an estimate of dam
ages in the park, but con
tinues to find more as days
goby.
Still, Meads said, the
community is fortunate
that there were no injuries
to people in the violent
episode.
Perquimans County
Emergency Management
Coordinator Harry
Continued on page 8
Hertford
raises
utility
rates
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Hertford taxpayers will
face no ad valorem tax rate
increase next year, but elec
tric and water and sewer
rates will rise and a new
garbage collection fee will
be implemented.
A new $4 per can per
month per household
garbage collection fee will
be charged as of July 1.
Also coming in July 1
will be a 5 percent water
and sewer rate increase and
a 6.5 percent electric rate
increase.
Town Manager John
Christensen said several
factors were considered
when Council made the
Continued on page 10
Weekend
Weather
Thursday
High: 86
Low: 62
PM T'Storms
Friday
High: 87
Low: 64
Mostly Sunny
Saturday
High: 89
Low: 67
Partly Cloudy