ARTICLE
October 25, 2016 North Carolina Rural Water Association PO Box 540 Welcome, NC 28374 Subject: Hurricane Matthew Follow-Up Dear Colleagues, Over the past few weeks, I have seen employees, volunteers, relief agencies, businesses, and friends pull together to offer help in the wake of Hurricane Matthew. Personally, I cannot thank everyone enough for their commitment and dedication to their job and the health and safety of their community. I am proud to be a part of such a wonderful team and I want to thank each and every one who is reading this letter for all you do in serving our State’s water and wastewater industry! Hurricane Matthew made landfall in the United States on Saturday, October 8, 2016 bringing category 4 force winds, rain, and storm surge to communities all across the Southeast. Prepared to watch the forecasted storm devastate our coastal counties, I watched as Matthew unexpectedly remained on a path directly through eastern North Carolina. The resulting swollen rivers turned highways and roads into rushing streams, and in many instances, the saturated ground and the moving water was just too much for pipes and infrastructure to withstand. Immediately following the storm, the North Carolina Rural Water Association (NCRWA) began evaluating system conditions. NCRWA has directly responded to needs in more than 80 different towns and systems across eastern North Carolina, focusing predominately on the I-40, I-95, and I-74 corridors. We have continuously worked with other state and federal agencies such as NCDEQ, USDA, FEMA and NCWaterWARN. Our staff members have worked tirelessly for long hours and have literally walked miles in efforts to quickly find leaks and minimize environmental threats caused by damaged infrastructure. While we have touched many parts of the state during this disaster, there are some areas that stand out most. In the Town of Rowland, NCRWA Circuit Riders helped restart the town’s water treatment facility after it lost power and was unable to treat water for four days. NCRWA also helped the town issue a boil water advisory and establish a water shortage response plan. Meanwhile, another Circuit Rider was aggressively helping Hertford County find washed out water mains in areas of its system that completely lost system pressure. Several washed out water mains were found. Fortunately, the county was able to re-route a nursing home so it would not be affected. The whole process of finding washed out water mains requires walking miles through creek crossings and swampy areas. Lastly, the Town of Fairmont suffered some severe flooding of its wastewater treatment plant. Rushing water pulled some sewer pipes loose causing raw sewage to leak into a creek. NCRWA quickly responded with our Wastewater Specialist calling in tanker trucks so the spill could be cleaned up and hauled off. NCRWA also connected the town with NCWaterWARN. It was the first time NCWaterWarn has been utilized for an infrastructure repair in the state since its creation. The town is also working with the EPA and FEMA as well. Currently, the town’s utilities are operating with a few temporary fixes, but it hopes to have permanent repairs completed very soon. Overall, everyone at NCRWA and our partnering organizations have done a wonderful job preparing for this storm and assisting our members and communities during and after the storm. While we have accomplished a lot already, the response efforts are nowhere near being over, and we will surely be cleaning up from this storm for the weeks, months, and even years to come. Again, I appreciate everyone’s hard work and am very proud to be a part of an industry of such dedicated professionals. Sincerely, Daniel Wilson, PE Executive Director
October 25, 2016
North Carolina Rural Water Association PO Box 540 Welcome, NC 28374
Subject: Hurricane Matthew Follow-Up
Dear Colleagues,
Over the past few weeks, I have seen employees, volunteers, relief agencies, businesses, and friends pull together to offer help in the wake of Hurricane Matthew. Personally, I cannot thank everyone enough for their commitment and dedication to their job and the health and safety of their community. I am proud to be a part of such a wonderful team and I want to thank each and every one who is reading this letter for all you do in serving our State’s water and wastewater industry!
Hurricane Matthew made landfall in the United States on Saturday, October 8, 2016 bringing category 4 force winds, rain, and storm surge to communities all across the Southeast. Prepared to watch the forecasted storm devastate our coastal counties, I watched as Matthew unexpectedly remained on a path directly through eastern North Carolina. The resulting swollen rivers turned highways and roads into rushing streams, and in many instances, the saturated ground and the moving water was just too much for pipes and infrastructure to withstand.
Immediately following the storm, the North Carolina Rural Water Association (NCRWA) began evaluating system conditions. NCRWA has directly responded to needs in more than 80 different towns and systems across eastern North Carolina, focusing predominately on the I-40, I-95, and I-74 corridors. We have continuously worked with other state and federal agencies such as NCDEQ, USDA, FEMA and NCWaterWARN. Our staff members have worked tirelessly for long hours and have literally walked miles in efforts to quickly find leaks and minimize environmental threats caused by damaged infrastructure. While we have touched many parts of the state during this disaster, there are some areas that stand out most.
In the Town of Rowland, NCRWA Circuit Riders helped restart the town’s water treatment facility after it lost power and was unable to treat water for four days. NCRWA also helped the town issue a boil water advisory and establish a water shortage response plan.
Meanwhile, another Circuit Rider was aggressively helping Hertford County find washed out water mains in areas of its system that completely lost system pressure. Several washed out water mains were found. Fortunately, the county was able to re-route a nursing home so it would not be affected. The whole process of finding washed out water mains requires walking miles through creek crossings and swampy areas.
Lastly, the Town of Fairmont suffered some severe flooding of its wastewater treatment plant. Rushing water pulled some sewer pipes loose causing raw sewage to leak into a creek. NCRWA quickly responded with our Wastewater Specialist calling in tanker trucks so the spill could be cleaned up and hauled off. NCRWA also connected the town with NCWaterWARN. It was the first time NCWaterWarn has been utilized for an infrastructure repair in the state since its creation. The town is also working with the EPA and FEMA as well. Currently, the town’s utilities are operating with a few temporary fixes, but it hopes to have permanent repairs completed very soon.
Overall, everyone at NCRWA and our partnering organizations have done a wonderful job preparing for this storm and assisting our members and communities during and after the storm. While we have accomplished a lot already, the response efforts are nowhere near being over, and we will surely be cleaning up from this storm for the weeks, months, and even years to come. Again, I appreciate everyone’s hard work and am very proud to be a part of an industry of such dedicated professionals.
Sincerely, Daniel Wilson, PE Executive Director