Man whose home was damaged by hurricanes Matthew, Florence commits suicide
Death brings North Carolina Hurricane Florence death toll to 41
Updated: 1:40 PM EST Nov 6, 2018
WEBVTT LEAD WITH, I’M A GENIUS. ♪ SOLEDAD: I’M SOLEDAD O’BRIEN. WELCOME TO MATTER OF FACT. HURRICANE FLORENCE MADE LANDFALL IN NORTH CAROLINA ON SEPTEMBER 14 WITH WIND GUSTS TOPPING 100 MILES PER HOUR. BUT IT WAS THE TORRENTIAL RAIN AND FLOODING THAT PROVED MOST DEVASTATING AND DEADLY. ACCORDING TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE, FLORENCE DUMPED AN ESTIMATED 8-TRILLION GALLONS OF RAIN IN NORTH CAROLINA ALONE! THAT’S ENOUGH TO FILL THE DALLAS COWBOYS STADIUM EIGHT TIMES OVER. NEARLY 50 DEATHS HAVE BEEN BLAMED ON THE STORM AND MORE THAN 22,000 PEOPLE JUST IN NORTH CAROLINA HAD TO SEEK EMERGENCY SHELTER. SAMUEL GUNTER IS THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE NORTH CAROLI HOUSING COALITION AND HE SAYS THE IMMEDIATE EMERGENCY RESPONSE TO THE HURRICANE TAKING PLACE RIGHT NOW IS JUST THE START OF A REBUILDING PROCESS THAT WILL TAKE DECADES THANKS FOR JOINING US. I KNOW YOU’VE GOT A LOT ON YOUR HANDS WITH THE NEWBORN TWINS AND ANOTHER SMALL CHILD AND JUGGLING ALL OF THIS. IT’S BEEN THREE WEEKS SINCE THE THE STORM HIT. THE WATER CRESTED THIS PAST WEEKEND. CAN YOU GIVE US A SENSE OF HOW THINGS LOOK? SAMUEL: THINGS LOOK ROUGH OUT THERE RIGHT NOW. I THINK THE DISASTER HAS BEEN A SCALE THAT NONE OF US REALLY ANTICIPATED. AND I THINK IN MANY OF THESE STORMS YOU EXPECT THAT THE WIND AND THE RAIN AND ALL OF THAT T BE SO OVERWHELMING AND IT WA THE FLOODING, IT WAS THE RIVERS CRESTING AND ALL OF THAT THAT ENDED UP HAVING SUCH A SUCH A PROFOUND AND TOTAL IMPACT. SOLEDAD: TV NEWS CREWS TEND TO COME WHEN THE STORM IS APPROACHING AND MAKE A LOT OUT OF THAT AND SORT OF FOLLOW IT TO THAT POINT AND THEN THEY DISAPPEAR WHEN IT’S ACTUALLY TIME FOR THE REBUILDING WHICH WE JUST MENTIONED COULD LITERALLY TAKE DECADES. ARE YOU PREPARED FOR THAT? SAMUEL: SO YOU’RE RIGHT. IT’S A VERY COMPELLING IMAGE SEEING FOLKS BE RESCUED OFF ROOF MORE NEWS BROADCASTERS STANDING WAIST DEEP IN WATER. THAT IS A COMPELLING IMAGE. BUT WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THIS STORM BECAUSE WE KNOW WHAT ABOUT HURRICANE MATTHEW WHICH HIT NORTH CAROLINA TWO YEARS AGO, WE KNOW IT ABOUT KATRINA, WE KNOW WHAT ABOUT ALL THESE STORMS, IS THAT THEY END UP HITTING COMMUNITIES THAT ARE ALREADY HAVE THIS INCREDIBLE INEQUALITY WHERE THERE’S ALREADY SO MUCH WATER NEEDED AND THE STORM EXACERBATES THAT. SOLEDAD: AND SOME PEOPLE WERE WAITING ALREADY. THESE ARE PEOPLE WHO’VE OFTEN BEEN WAITING TWO YEARS BECAUSE OF WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE LAST HURRICANE IN 2016. I GUESS I DON’T UNDERSTAND, WHY IS IT SO HARD FOR THEM TO GET MONEY FROM THE FEDS? SAMUEL: SO I THINK PART OF THE CHALLENGE IN NORTH CAROLINA IS WE, ONCE UPON A TIME WHEN HURRICANE FLOYD HIT IN THE 90S WE HAD A ROBUST NETWORK OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS SCATTERED ACROSS THE STATE. THAT NETWORK OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS LOST THEIR STATE APPROPRIATION. WHEN MATTHEW HIT, THAT EXPERTISE IN HOW TO DEPLOY THOSE FUNDS HAD GONE. SOLEDAD: SO WHAT HAPPENS TO A TOWN LIKE PRINCEVILLE WHICH IS OVERWHELMINGLY MINORITY IN THE LOW-LYING AREA, AND CONSISTENTLY ANY TIME THERE IS ANY KIND OF BAD WEATHER EVENT, CERTAINLY A STORM, THEY GET WHACKED? SAMUEL: THE CASE OF PRINCEVILLE HAS PARTICULAR MEANING IN NORTH CAROLINA AS ONE OF THE FIRST COMMUNITIES FOUNDED BY FREED SLAVES. SO THERE’S THIS HISTORI SIGNIFICANCE TO A PLACE THAT YOU DON’T WANT TO ABANDON. BUT THE REALITY OF THE STORM IS THAT THE STORM ITSELF IS NOT DISCRIMINATING AT ALL. IT HITS YOU WITH ALL OF ITS POWER NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE. BUT IT’S HITTING COMMUNITIES THAT HAVE BEEN BUILT UP OVER TI WITH THE REALITY OF SEGREGATION, WITH THE REALITY OF RACIAL DISPARITIES. AND SO YOU SEE THESE PROFOUND IMPACTS ON THESE COMMUNITIES THAT HAVE THE LEAST AMOUNT OF RESOURCES TO BRING TO BEAR TO COME BACK. SOLEDAD: AND THE LEAST AMOUNT OF RESILIENCE TO REALLY SURVIVE THESE OVER AND OVER AGAIN. I WANT TO END BY MENTIONING YOUR STORY. YOU JUST HAD TWIN BABY GIRLS. YOU HAVE A TWO-YEAR-OLD. YOUR HOUSE FLOODED, PLUS THERE WERE THE TORNADOES. WHAT IS YOUR SITUATION? HOW ARE YOU DEALING? SAMUEL: SO I LIVE IN DURHAM NORTH CAROLINA AND I LIVE ON A HILL. BUT OUR HOUSE FLOODED DURING MATTHEW AND IT FLOODED AGAIN DURING FLORENCE. MY WIFE AND I AND MY THREE CHILDREN WERE HUDDLED IN THE STAIRWELL DURING THE TORNADO WARNINGS WHILE WATER WAS COMING INTO OUR FAMILY ROOM WE WERE FORTUNATE, ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. SO
Man whose home was damaged by hurricanes Matthew, Florence commits suicide
Death brings North Carolina Hurricane Florence death toll to 41
Updated: 1:40 PM EST Nov 6, 2018
A North Carolina man whose home was damaged by two hurricanes in the past three years took his own life, raising the state’s official storm death toll of Hurricane Florence to 41.The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner added the 69-year-old Robeson County man to the Florence death count last week. The man died Oct. 22, more than a month after Florence made landfall on Sept. 14. He had also suffered losses from Hurricane Matthew in 2016.The man is the second suicide on the official death count. An 82-year-old Carteret County man whose home was condemned due to Florence-related flooding also killed himself.The state's official tally says 10 of the dead drowned in their vehicles, the top cause of fatalities. Six other storm-related deaths were the result of motor vehicle crashes.
ROBESON COUNTY, N.C. — A North Carolina man whose home was damaged by two hurricanes in the past three years took his own life, raising the state’s official storm death toll of Hurricane Florence to 41.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner added the 69-year-old Robeson County man to the Florence death count last week.
The man died Oct. 22, more than a month after Florence made landfall on Sept. 14. He had also suffered losses from Hurricane Matthew in 2016.
The man is the second suicide on the official death count. An 82-year-old Carteret County man whose home was condemned due to Florence-related flooding also killed himself.
The state's official tally says 10 of the dead drowned in their vehicles, the top cause of fatalities. Six other storm-related deaths were the result of motor vehicle crashes.