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PERQUIMANS COUNTY LIBRARY
110 W ACADEMY ST
HERTFORD, NC 27944-1306
HE
X ILIVV
dlMANS
October 1, 2003
Vol. 71. No. 40 Hertford. North Carolina 27944
Weekly
'%/i
Isabel damage: $153 mil.
95 % of
homes
damaged
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Preliminary estimates
gathered by the
Perquimans County
Department of Inspections
tally local losses from
Hurricane Isabel at $153
million.
The figure includes dam
age to both property and
infrastructure.
Inspectors have deter
mined that 95 percent of
homes in the county sus
tained some type of dam
age from the Sept. 18 hurri
cane. Early reports indicate
that 25-30 homes were com
pletely destroyed.
Continued on page 4
FEMA
opens
center
. SUSAN R. HARRIS
: The State of Emergnecy
in Perquimans County was
lifted last Friday, after
being in effect for just over
:a week.
The county has been
determined to be a federal
disaster area.
A FEMA Disaster
-Recovery Center has been
•set up at the Albemarle
Commission Building, and
began operation on Sept.
29, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Residents with losses
from Isabel may go to the
Center to make claims.
Meals continue to be
served by the Red Cross at
New Hope United
Methodist Church and the
Snug Harbor Community
Building.
The Perquimans County
Emergency Operations
Center has reduced its
hours to normal business
hours. The phone number
at the center is 426-7029.
A volunteer center has
been established by the
county. Individuals and
groups who wish to volun
teer to help others with
such things as yard cleanup
or house cleanup may call
426-8283 to offer services.
Those who need assistance
may also call the number.
Gimpses of Isabel
PHOTO BY DAVE SILVA
Hertford resident Dave Silva ventured out during the
height of Isabel's fury to catch the river pounding over
the side of the "S" bridge. The photo was taken
around 3 p.m. on Sept. 18
PHOTO BY DAVE SILVA
A tree fell through the roof of this Church Street
house, but not before becoming wrapped like a pre
sent in the tin from the roof.
M
PHOTO BY DAVE SILVA
By 5 p.m., the waves were no longer breaking over the
bridge, but the water had risen to almost touch the
bottom of the steel swinging span of the structure.
comes
to town
SUSAN R. HARRIS
The Town of Hertford
opened its Emergency
Operations Center at the
Police Department early
Thursday, and many police
and town maintenance and
utility crews saw more of
that office than their homes
for almost a week.
The police department’s
mobile operations unit’s
generators powered the
CGntsr.
Hertford Police Chief
Dale Vanscoy said the office
fielded over 500 storm-relat
ed calls, one from as far
away as Australia, mostly
from people concerned
about family members.
In a couple of cases, offi
cers responded to reports of
break-ins of a home and
vehicle, and arrived in time
to catch the perpetraitors.
Vanscoy said there were
also 385 calls for service.
Vanscoy said he and
Maintenance Supervisor
Parker Newbern met on
Monday before the storm
and decided to purchase
enough canned goods to
provide food for town crews
and police officers until
help would arrive after the
storm.
Continued on page 4
County
PHOTO BY BRENDA LASSITER
loses
School employees prepared and served 14,000 meals .
for residents who lined up at Perquimans County High fit L01E*
School the week after Isabel.
^7 J:
PHOTO BY BRENDA LASSITER
The roof at Perquimans County Middle School was
torn off by Isabel.
SUSAN R. HARRIS
It was a litle like the
nursery rhyme, “Water,
water everywhere and not a
drop to drink.”
Perquimans was inun
dated with water during
Isabel, but the day after the
storm moved through, the
county lost its water.
Continued on page 4
PHOTO BY BRENDA LASSITER
Gregory to make recommendations AEMC up and ruiinin9
SUSAN R. HARRIS
County Manager Paul
Gregory will make three
recommendations to coun
ty commissioners on the
county’s emergency man
agement plan at an upcom
ing meeting.
While Gregory said
much of the plan worked,
the magniture of the
storm, which brought 100-
mile-an-hour sustained
winds to the county and
has been called the worst
storm since 1933, shows the
need to update some por
tions of the plan.
The county manager wUl
recommend that should
another storm the size and
strength of Isabel be pre
dicted to hit here, the water
from the elevated water
tanks be shut off as a pre
caution and that there be a
mandatory evacuation of
residents.
In addition, Gregory will
recommend that commis
sioners sign an agreement
with a company guarantee
ing that sufficient genera
tors to operate the water
plant will be brought to the
county within hours of the
storm moving out.
SUSAN R. HARRIS
All 10,800 members
served by Albemarle
Electric Membership
Corporation were without
power after Hurricane
Isabel.
AEMC’s Larry Johnson
said crews were at the co
op’s headquarters in
WinfaU, ready to move out
as soon as the storm had
passed, but Isabel’s
extremely high winds
meant that it was unsafe for
line crews to get out until
early Friday morning.
EMC customers went
down in part due to tremen
dous damage at N.C.
Power’s substation,
Johnson said.
Continued on page 10
Weekend
Weather
THURSDAY
High: 68
Low: 46
Sunny
Friday
High:69
Low: 54
Mosry Sunny
Saturday
High: 78
Low: 59
Partly Cloudy