State Pushes Areas Slow To Rebuild After Floyd

Twelve communities have completed less than 15 percent of their recovery efforts since the storm flooded much of eastern North Carolina in September 1999.

Easley stated in a press release that the N.C. Redevelopment Center, the group responsible for rebuilding projects, will step in if communities do not boost efforts.

The communities include Wake, Lenoir, Sampson, Johnston, Brunswick, Bertie, Hyde, Pamlico, and Robeson counties as well as Tabor City, Wilson and Wilmington.

Kristin Woods, public information officer for the N.C. Redevelopment Center, said each of the 12 communities has been contacted by the office and will meet with state officials to organize a timeline for reconstruction and repair.

Woods said almost $37 million could be stripped from the 12 communities unless efforts improve.

Several areas, including Wake and Robeson counties and the city of Wilmington, have not begun renovations.

"Some of them haven't accomplished anything," said Woods. "We're sitting on a lot of money."

Woods said some of the communities have had difficulties with organizing manpower to accomplish these tasks.

She added that the group ultimately strives to "build eastern North Carolina back better than it was before the flood."

Wilmington Public Information Officer Doug Hewett said the city did not sign a contract to complete home renovations until September 2000, one full year after the hurricane ravaged the region.

But Hewett said the state wanted the city to complete redevelopment in eight months -- a timetable he said was unrealistic.

"While we ... share the governor and the General Assembly's frustration in not getting these people back in their homes, we would ask that they give the local governments more time to complete the projects," he said.

Hewett added that the city government is prioritizing the list of units that must be renovated, which totals 57 homes, according to the governor's press release. "We hope to have a bid out for that work within the next one to two months," he said.

While several communities have had little success at assisting citizens hurt by the storm, many have completed almost all of their housing improvements.

Roanoke Rapids City Manager Rick Benton said his community is 95 percent complete with the redevelopment of units.

Benton said the city participated in several relief projects, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency buyout program, homeowner relocation and tenant relocation, which was the basis for Easley's crackdown.

Benton said one tenant relocation project remains to be completed and that he expects all projects to be finished in March or April. But in spite of his city's near completion of the efforts, Benton said the process has not been easy.

He said most problems involve legal issues, including titlework and coordination with insurance companies. "It's just a lot of bureaucracy ... tied up in this."

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.