NC Gov. Easley Meets With Local Emergency Response Officials And Tours Tornado Damage In Bertie County

By admin - Posted on May 14th, 2008

5/13/2008 -- Raleigh - RALEIGH – North Carolina Governor Mike Easley today met with local emergency response officials and conducted an aerial tour of tornado damage in Bertie County that occurred Sunday evening. Today he also sent teams of Small Business Administration officials to Bertie County to determine if the county is eligible for an SBA disaster declaration. If the county is eligible, uninsured residents whose homes were destroyed or received major damage would be eligible for low interest loans to use for home repair.

“While we are fortunate that no one was killed in these storms, there is a lot of repairing and rebuilding to do,” said Easley. “We are going to work with local emergency management and volunteer agencies to do everything we can to help the families who have lost their homes and businesses get what they need to make it through this tough time.”

The Red Cross has set up a shelter at Mt. Olive Baptist Church located on 102 Mount Olive Road in Windsor. Residents can go to the shelter for food, water, counseling and to find out more about applying for financial assistance. The state Division of Emergency Management also sent 100 tarps to Bertie County for residents to use while they repair roofs on their homes or businesses.

On Monday, Easley dispatched preliminary damage assessment teams comprised of state and local officials to Bertie and Jones counties to assess damage. The team in Jones County is also working to survey damage in Onslow County. The state and local assessment teams have found that Bertie County had at least 16 homes destroyed, three with major damage and 28 with minor damage. Thirteen of the destroyed homes and 18 of the damaged homes in Bertie County are not covered by insurance. Emergency response and clean up costs for local governments will also be tallied to determine if state or federal aid might be available for local governments.

Six people were injured in the storm in Bertie County. As many as 16 tornadoes were reported to have moved through the eastern part of the state on Sunday.

Source: North Carolina Governor

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