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BIG CITY: Postcard from a disaster area

Posted on September 29, 2011 by Staff

Kirk Ross
Took a little wrangling, but I got my ferry ticket. It wasn’t an ordinary ticket – a big 5-by-7 piece of cardstock with an official seal, the word “Media” on it and an explanation written fairly large, all caps, saying it allowed me access to a declared disaster area as long as I stayed in areas deemed safe.

Needless to say, it wasn’t an ordinary ferry ride. The pass got me on the W. Stanford White operating out of Stumpy Point – part of the squadron of ferries making the run to Rodanthe on Hatteras Island.

At 5 a.m., after a long drive and crossing the dark, sparsely lit Alligator River wildlife refuge, a giant electronic sign set up by the DOT just after the turn onto N.C. 264 made it clear that things weren’t normal, flashing the words “EMERGENCY FERRY” over and over at the road through the swamp.

As you probably read, several breaches and a new inlet created by Hurricane Irene had cut off Hatteras from the rest of us. The emergency ferry, running a narrow channel through Pamlico Sound, was quite literally a lifeline, bringing relief supplies, emergency equipment and workers and volunteers.

The morning I rode over, mixed in with the crews and gear were people who owned property on the island but weren’t year-round residents. It was the first time they’d been allowed back. Most were hopeful but anxious.

Motoring into the sunrise, we had a calm passage. The Pamlico was agreeable that morning. A couple weeks earlier, it had been a real monster.

The back of my van was packed with what supplies we could assemble on short notice. It wasn’t a bad haul, the result of a series of Facebook posts and some phone calls. I’d followed conditions on Hatteras through Facebook and Twitter feeds and grew increasingly concerned that what was happening there was going on relatively unreported.

The Facebook pages set up in the wake of the hurricane were a good resource for finding out what was needed – bug spray, cleaning supplies, non-perishable foods and socks – lots of socks – which I thought was a little curious.

I arranged a drop-off with folks at the Really Really Free Market in Waves, right in the heart of the part of the island that had seen the worst flooding, and at the food bank at the Methodist church in Buxton.

I wasn’t on Hatteras long before I kind of felt bad that the van wasn’t stuffed full. The food bank had a decent amount stockpiled, but the fellow who ran it was concerned. There was a temporary pause in demand due to emergency food vouchers going out, but it would be a hard fall and winter with so many people out of work and so many businesses wiped out.

And at the Really Really Free Market, “business” was brisk and the volunteers appreciative of what the good people of Chapel Hill and Carrboro had sent their way. I wasn’t there for more than 10 minutes when a guy came in looking for help. He’d had a rough year already due to a string of health problems and he’d just lost his trailer, tools and Jeep. All he had left was his little dog.

I watched a market volunteer, a nurse, tend to him. She consoled him as he told his story and tried to help him figure out where he could stay. He’d been wearing flip-flops for who knows how long and his feet were bruised and blistered. She got him some shoes and socks, and as she helped him put them on she looked up at me and smiled.

“You see,” she said simply, and gestured to the small pile of socks she’d grabbed for him. They were from the giant bag of socks I’d just unloaded.

“I get it,” I replied.

You may think of Hatteras as an idyllic vacation spot or a fishing paradise, but chances are you don’t think of it as home to hundreds of displaced and out-of-work people. You may not think about fishermen trying to get their boats and crews back together, young people who were working to save up for college or guys who work construction and live in trailers.

Yeah, Outer Banks people are scrappy, but they’ve been hit harder than most of us realize and could really use a little help and a little kindness. And socks.

1 thought on “BIG CITY: Postcard from a disaster area”

  1. Irene Veal says:
    September 29, 2011 at 6:53 pm

    I was really impressed with the spirit of the people of Hatteras. The Emergency Ferry was a God send to these people who many have lost just about everything they own. Thanks to the volunteers, and to Facebook and Twitter for keeping us informed.

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