North Carolina storm victims staying prepared

WINDSOR, N.C.

Pastor Mike Willard spent part of Tuesday delivering backpacks of emergency supplies to a community still recovering from a tornado in April and a hurricane in August.

Donna Mizelle, for one, welcomed the relief.

"Thank you so much," Mizelle said. "It's been a rough year."

Mizelle figures the way things are going, she might need the kit. In January last year she lost her job. In February, she had surgery. In March, she totaled her car in an accident. The tornado in April tore off her roof. In August, Hurricane Irene ripped away the porch roof that had been rebuilt after the tornado.

Mizelle stood under a weathered and leaky tarp covering her porch, holding the new emergency kit that made her a little more ready for the next disaster.

"I'm still here," she said.

Smaller than a grocery bag, the emergency backpacks offer enough packaged food, water and first aid and emergency supplies for two people to last three days. Many people lacked food, water and other essential supplies during the night hours after the storm hit and into the next day, when relief found them. The packs are great when someone has to quickly leave their home and go to a shelter, Willard said.

"This has a lot of survival stuff in it," said Willard, president of the Bertie County Relief and Recovery Team. "If you need it, you can grab it and go."

Willard and the nonprofit relief group bought 49 kits for tornado survivors, purchased with money donated to the county from all over the country.

He spent the day delivering as many as possible to a list of addresses and people, some still rebuilding from the deadly tornado that touched down around dusk April 16 and in less than 15 minutes cleared a half-mile wide path through nine miles of Bertie County, killing 12 people.

By the next day, volunteers from nearby neighborhoods and national church groups arrived to help. Food, water, clothing and cleaning supplies came by the truck loads and were delivered to survivors picking their way through the debris of what was once their homes.

Over several months, money and supplies continued to flow into Bertie County. To better handle the administration of it all, Bertie followed the lead of other counties and formed the nonprofit with members from the county, churches and other volunteer groups. When Hurricane Irene blew through, the group responded. Since then, it has continued to aid storm victims.

"It's a slow process," said Misty Deanes, assistant county manager and interim emergency management director. "There was so much devastation."

Storm experts are calling for an above-average tornado season although not as bad as last year in North Carolina and Virginia, said Frank Strait, senior meteorologist with AccuWeather. Last year, the weather phenomenon known as La Nina caused more tornados than normal to form further east. This year, the effect from La Nina is not as strong.

But people in Bertie are wary of any storm on the horizon.

Willard and Red Cross volunteer Megan McDonald delivered an emergency kit to Robert White. He and his aging mother dropped to the floor after a tree fell on the corner of their mobile home during the tornado.

"It was the most awful fuss I've ever heard," White said this week from his front door.

Willard handed him an emergency backpack and a tip:

"Keep it in a place easy to reach."

Jeff Hampton, 252-338-0159, jeff.hampton@pilotonline.com