Mountain lawmakers joined House Speaker Tim Moore on Friday to get a firsthand look at the damage from Tropical Store Fred in and around Canton, Bethel and in Cruso.
Representatives Mark Pless, Mike Clampitt and Karl Gillespie joined Moore on a tour of Canton, led by Mayor Zeb Smathers. Haywood County residents are looking to the General Assembly for help.
“People are hurting, and we got to help them. We got to step up to the plate,” Clampitt said.
“Once we have an idea of what it is, then it’s time to go back and see what we can do,” Pless said.
Moore pledged needed financial appropriation will come from the state’s rainy day fund.
“There’s going to be money needed for cleanup. There’s going to be money for schools. You name it,” he said. “The emergency declaration process will unfold, and the things get done right now, and then, of course, this has to be paid for,” Moore said.
Smathers said early damage estimates reach into the hundreds of millions.
“It is already estimated that Cruso parcels, and our county commissioners, putting this together already, $300 million just in Cruso,” he said.
UPDATE: 2 MORE FLOOD VICTIMS RECOVERED, BRINGING TOTAL TO 4, HAYWOOD OFFICIALS SAY
Impacts in Cruso are massive. Ed Burnette’s family home on Mundy Field Road was destroyed.
“And when it got daylight enough to see, all the back had washed out and all. I just lost it,” Burnette said. “Clean it up and probably tear the house down, because it’s a total loss.”
He is waiting to see if assistance comes, even if it means relocating.
“Yeah, I’ve got a whole mountain up there I can put a house on,” Burnette said.
Bill Holman is also wondering if the state will help him, like it has before. With the storm, he lost crops like cucumbers and peppers on his Cold Mountain farm.
“When water comes from outside your fields and covers your crop, it’s unsellable,” he said.
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“If the legislature decides that we can do a disaster relief program, and appropriates money, then we’re going to be ready,” North Carolina Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler said.
For many, the availability of financial help from Raleigh and Washington will determine the next steps.
“We had conversations with staff yesterday about some of the funds that maybe help could come from. But we don’t have any of those answers yet,” Pless said.
“What I can tell is that you’re going to get full resources that are needed,” Moore said.
There are many pieces to getting that financial aid. Right at the top is getting that emergency declaration.
NC DEPT. OF INSURANCE PROVIDING ANSWERS TO FLOOD VICTIMS’ QUESTIONS THROUGH WEEKEND
