Voices After the Deluge: Oral History Investigations of the Great North Carolina FloodThompson conducted twenty-five interviews with flood victims, relief workers, ministers, farmers, farm workers, small-business owners, environmental monitors, and political leaders. Among the interviewees were Bert Pickett, an African-American minister in Pender County who led a delegation to the North Carolina General Assembly to ask for flood assistance; Rick Dove, a river keeper who has dedicated his life to saving the Neuse and Trent rivers; and Billy Ray Hall, president of the North Carolina Rural Center and Director of the North Carolina Flood Redevelopment Center. Many broad themes emerged from Thompson's interviews: the sweeping toll of the flood on human lives; the disruptions to community and sense of place; the character of political response to the disaster at local, state, and national levels; public health and environmental issues arising from the flooding; the effect of the disaster on the region's most vulnerable residents, including children, the elderly, and lower-income families; and the experiences of relief workers. |
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The Southern Oral History Program Center for the Study of the American South Love House and Hutchins Forum 410 East Franklin St., CB# 9127, UNC-CH Chapel Hill, NC 27599-9127 (919) 962-0455 info@sohp.org |