1999 - 2000 Broadcast Season
Broadcast Program Transcripts
Episode #1503

Also joining us tonight to talk about coordinating volunteer efforts is Marty Dryer. She is the director of non-profit services at the Volunteer Center of Greater Durham. Marty, thank you for being with us.

And we also have via telephone someone who lost everything in the storm, fellow employee John Montgomery here from UNC-TV, and John, thank you for joining us via telephone.

Montgomery: Glad to be here.

Holloway: And we appreciate both of you for coming this evening and John for being available via telephone. Let me say that John is normally working as an engineer so he's normally here at the center, at the transmitter making sure everything is on the air, so this turns the table on him. You are watching Black Issues Forum Live, and we are ready to take your telephone calls on health concerns or volunteerism relating to Hurricane Floyd recovering from disaster. The number to call with your questions or comments is on the screen. It is 1-800-555-3120. Please make your comments or questions brief. Now lets hear from our guests. Dr. McBride, lets go to you directly. As the clean-up efforts go on now and people continue to re-enter their home, what are some of the current health risks they have and what would you say are most critical?

McBride: Well, I guess one of the first things that is not so apparent is the unintentional injury risk that people have. First of all, they are used to this as being 'the home' and in fact it has turned into a hazardous waste site that can be very dangerous, especially during the efforts to clean up. And people often are subject to a lot of what are called 'accidents', we like to call them 'unintentional injuries' that can occur.

Holloway: Yeah, and we are looking at footage here because all are out on the streets, people are taking all of their things out, and I guess the wood is rotten and could fall on people?

McBride: Oh yeah, there are trip hazards: you go into the homes, and as some of the footage shows, the homes are full of trip hazards, pointed objects, and a lot of other kinds of hazards to people, and sometimes the electricity is cut on, creating electrical hazards, fire hazards, there are any number of hazards that people have.

Holloway: John, you are probably watching this out there in Pitt county as well. Do you concur with what the doctor is saying? Have you known anyone to be injured, or have you had to be concerned about that yourself?

Montgomery: Well, basically within the structure of most of the homes , you've got a lot of problems with the floor. The floor is practically buckled and you also have problems with furniture being rearranged within the house and trying to get in and out is tough. There have even been boards that have popped up, and everything is more or less tossed about and it is really hazardous. Plus there is contamination and you basically have to wear gloves or maybe a face mask, from the fumes. The insides of these homes have been condemned in my area.

Holloway John, you were telling us earlier off camera, just before we started, about the severity of the damage in your house. Can you take just a few seconds to share with our audience how devastating it really was? How it has affected you and your family?

Montgomery: Well, I practically lost just about everything except two cars: my wife's car and my car. Everything in the house is molded and all my appliances have been more or less drowned out. I noticed a lot of my grass has just died out, for what reason I don't know. I lost a lot of clothing from the contaminated water, and everything is just totally unusable.

Holloway: And you are not living at home now of course, right?

Montgomery: No, me and my family, we are at my mother's in Bethel, North Carolina. That is approximately 10 miles from where I live. And we've been here practically since the storm.

Holloway: We have some callers on the line but first I want to go to Marty Dryer. Marty, you are involved in coordinating volunteer efforts. What are some of the ways you recruit volunteers, and where is the help really most needed now?

Dryer: We recruit, in fact we started out with folks calling us when they knew things were going to be happening. So we didn't have to do a lot of recruiting right away. The calls were just coming in as fast as we could answer them. Now we are putting a reminder in the newspaper with our weekly things: "Remember that they still need help down east." We are working with several organizations and schools and universities in the area especially. We have reminders in church flyers. Any way that we normally do our recruiting, we are just putting any reminder not to forget the folks down east.

Holloway: And speaking of those volunteer efforts, we have some footage we are showing where people are actually there and are being trained. What kinds of things are they doing when they are there as volunteers in Eastern North Carolina?

Dryer: When they are going down east, they are normally with a crew that goes in and they are doing what they are calling right now, "mudding out". Getting the mud out of cupboards, off the floors as much as they can. They are helping to tear down the walls, get everything out that has mould or mildew or that has the potential of having that in. So it is a recovery looking toward a project-rebuild in our long-term.

McBride: I wanted to point out mould and mildew as a health hazard. It is one of the most significant hazards that we have now. We have the accidents and injuries, but mold and mildew have just about rendered these homes uninhabitable. It has been one of the critical areas where the homes, in order to get the homes back into shape, most of them have to be completely gutted out, floors torn up, all the way to the roof, all the way down to what they call the studs, and sometimes the studs get moulded, so... I have seen some volunteer efforts that have just about rebuilt the house from the inside, leaving only a shell.

Holloway: Yes, many of us that live in the central and western parts of the state no doubt don't think about this as often as those of our neighbor in the east, but this is really going to be a long-term effort. But I think we do have someone from the central part of the state. Lets take our first caller now from Guilford County. Guilford County, go right ahead please.

Male: I am going to ask a question. Are minorities getting their fair share of the other people in the community who have been devastated by the flood?

Holloway: Is your question 'Are they, are minorities getting a fair share of services?'.

Male: Right.

Holloway: Marty, can you answer that question?

Dyer: Without being down there myself, but I would almost guarantee that they are because so many of the efforts are based through the churches. And I know at first these smaller towns felt as thought they were not getting as much from Red Cross volunteers, or through the Red Cross and the Salvation Army, but the church groups have really united and all the denominations now are having crews going in. So I think at this point, yes it is fair.

McBride: I think it can be tempered with the fact that poor people and minorities were disproportionately affected by the storm. And their needs are greater than others. If you look in the shelter and you look in the places that have been effected more, so in a sense because their needs are greater, but there are still a lot of unmet needs across the board in the areas, and there is, uh...

Holloway: John, do you concur with those responses?

Montgomery: Yes, I would just like to say one thing concerning the non-profit organizations and the churches. My hat goes off to them because you know they helped out a lot. From day one after the catastrophe, they really stepped up. I mean they helped people, they provided the different essentials that you would need while you are out of the home. And the National Guard have done a beautiful job. They provided three hot meals a day, and you know, it is overwhelming what type of aid these non-profit organizations gave during this disaster. And you know it is just good that you have these types of organizations.

Holloway: Well, it is going to be a long term effort for those of you recovering in the east. Lets go to another telephone caller from Wilson. Go right ahead with your comment or question please.

Male: First a political statement if I may. Kill kill kill the white man. &;

Holloway: Oh come on.

Alrighty. We need to take that caller off. We need some brief and direct comments directly related to the program tonight. We are talking about recovery from disaster. You are welcome to call 1-800-555-3120. And we are talking specifically about health issues and volunteer efforts, so we would love to take your legitimate call regarding those efforts right now.

Dr. McBride, let me ask you about volunteer efforts. There is a specific initiative going on with the HBCUs, the Historically Black Colleges and Universities. You ought to share with our audience those efforts.

McBride: Yes, we had in addition to. First of all there are many students that volunteered into the effort in the volunteer community and the faith community has been terrific. But a group that stepped forward were the Historically Black Schools and Pembroke, which is the Native American University. They issued a memorandum stating they would deploy their students into the effected area and deal with some of the health issues. And what we did is we gave them some orientation, some education, some masks and gloves and information to go into the communities and work through the local health departments and then go directly to work with the people. It was very effective and still is. There are still several groups that are going out, going forward. We have about 6 of the schools already that are in line to send students out.

Holloway: Marty, can you comment on some other efforts you can think of, other college and university students participating or volunteering?

Dryer: Oh, absolutely. Our local groups are. Duke University has a group that is working together with us trying to do short-term and long-term planning. They have sent students out, provided busses, food, trucks, wheel-barrows, shovels, that type of thing. A lot of groups from there are going out. UNC's new center was formed just four weeks prior to that and so they really got going and got folks out there working. Central, I know we had a lot of the service organizations at Central calling us. They have done a lot of work in Durham working with the Crowsdale Retirement Community. The Greenville Nursing Home methodist retirement home was entirely moved over to Durham. Their facility there, so there were about 129 displaced there, so a lot of the Central students are doing friendly visiting and reading and that type of thing to these people whose families are back East. So it is a local effort but it is helping the whole effort out.

Holloway: Lets talk about this long-term impact here of this decision. We have people watching us here across the state. And John, I would like for you to comment on this first. In terms of what you see your current needs are, but how long do you think it is going to take you to fully recover from losing everything.

Montgomery: Well, it is going to be a long drawn-out process. Thankfully things are moving along. They are not moving as fast as a lot of us would want them to move, but things are slowly coming back around, and I don't know whether it will be within the next month or so before I can get back into another home, but like I said, due to the situation and so many people that have lost things, the efforts are moving along pretty smoothely. I think with a lot of patience and a little time we will all get back to where we were. But it will not be a tomorrow thing. It is going to take a little while. But I have got faith that it will come around

Holloway: I want my studio guests to comment about that, but first I want to go to another caller. I understand we have Theresa Williams on the line. Theresa is a young lady we met when our staff visited there a few weeks ago. She is from Princeville and we've been checking in with her each week just to kind of get a followthrough to see what is going on. Theresa are you there?

Female: Yes I am here.

Holloway: Theresa of course is not living in Princeville anymore. She is living with family members in Tarboro now, and I am sure that is where you still are, am I correct?

Female: Correct.

Holloway: We just asked John about the long-term recovery. How long do you think it is going to take you to recover from these efforts after losing everything there in Princeville?

Female: It is going to be a long time, because there is so much damage done in the area, so it will be a long time. It will probably be sometime next year until we can get back over into our home. Some may be able to back on the outskirts of Princeville, but just in the area of Princeville, you are looking at next year.

Holloway: I understand you have a question too, Theresa?

Female: Yes, concerning Dr. MacBride. I want to know about the contamination. Could it cause any kind of long-term health problems to you, or by working in your homes can it cause dry-mouth and everything like that? Could something like that happen?

Dryer: Well working in a home that has been flooded, that has mould and mildew, a lot of mould an mildew, and I have to Princeville and will be going there tomorrow, that it does offer a health risk. Particularly for people with respiratory problems, asthma or chronic lung disease. It can be a very serious hazard. And that is where we are advising people to take precautions and giving instructions on how to deal with those hazards through the health department or other building officials in the area. So yes it can. There are hazards that are there. Princeville is a town that has suffered probably more than any other community in the state. The community was virtually destroyed, it wasn't just the houses. And putting that back together again I think is going to take a special effort.

Holloway: Thank you for calling Theresa. Let me ask Marty now. It has been a few months since the flood actually occurred, and it is probably easy for people around the state to forget about this. Have volunteer efforts dwindled, and if so how will it impact the holiday season where people are coming getting ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Marty: The number of calls that we are getting at the volunteer center have dwindled. The volunteer effort has not. We had and I know the other community centers around had the same thing, a lot of folks call in and we keep them on a database. We then as we get the calls from down East, that we need skilled carpenters or we need electricians, and when that type of recovery effort happens, those folks will be ready to go down. They may not have helped initially, but they are ready and willing and able to go down, and I think that is something that we have learned from Fran and from the other disasters, that we have to plan ahead and we have to have volunteers at various stages with various skills. And the project rebuild I think is going to be major effort and the volunteers will be there.

Holloway: Lets go to our phones again. We have another caller from Edgecombe County. Go right ahead please with your comment or question. Edgecombe County, are you there?

Male: Hello?

Holloway: Yes, go right a head please with your comment or question.

Male: Yes, I am Reverend William, pastor at the ___________ and 55 of my members' homes have been destroyed. What I am asking, the question is, are those members who are senior citizens and probably have the house paid for and they are not working, okay, so they will give them a small grant and they have to make a loan for the rest of the money. How will they go about to try to pay that money back?

Holloway: You know, I don't know if we have the appropriate people to answer that question.

Dryer: I don't know, I can't answer that question but I think the Reverend brings up a good point. When you go into the fact that there are large numbers of seniors that have been disrupted, and it is almost even if they didn't have a loan, they are not really prepared to back into a single family dwelling again. So for them it has changed permanently. I know the Reverend could attest to that many of the seniors are living now with families and in tough living conditions. So that is a group that is going to require special services. The health conditions of those change. We talk about people who have lost a source of care, disrupted sources of health care, some of our records in terms of the emergency rooms that they go to emergency rooms to get the medication that they would normally go to their physicians for. So there has been a great disruption of services for the senior citizens and that is going to take a toll. And we have to have special efforts for them. I hear what he's saying in terms of it is not practical for a senior who has a house paid up to enter a mortgage, a mortgage or a loan. And that is what they are being faced with, and I think we have to find special ways of helping them.

Holloway: Let me just say to the reverend that we are going to show some phone numbers at the end of the program, not only for FEMA, who I am sure can answer that question for you as well as numbers for the health department and other that we've been talking about in just a few moments.

We have time for I think one more caller from Wake county. Wake county, please go right ahead with you question or comment.

Female: My name is Jacqueline Sanders, and I have donated to Salvation Army and Red Cross, but I was wondering if there was a way. I am a senior citizen, I don't have a lot of money, but I would like to make a personal donation to an individual family or person. And I was wondering if there was any way that I could get a name and an address to send an individual donation?

Holloway: Okay, we are going to show some numbers at the end of the program, but let me ask Marty to address that question.

Marty: I think in an instance like that the best way to go would be to go through your faith community. They really have, I think, the best finger on individual needs in any one of the communities. So it would be a matter of possibly going to your own faith community, asking for them to be in contact with someone. You might pick out a particular town, and if there is a church there, make those kinds of communications.

Holloway: Let me just mention, speaking of that, there is going to be a benefit Gospel concert tomorrow night, I think either in Pitt county or Edgecombe county, at ECU actually in Pitt county, and the Congressional Black Caucus will be holding a press conference there, and Congresswoman Eva Clayton and the governor I think will be there tomorrow, so those of you in that area please go by and help support that effort. Your efforts will help benefit the flood victims there. It is free but I am sure they will be taking your donations.

Lets take some concluding comments. John are you still there?

Montgomery: Yeah, I am still here.

Holloway: We just have one minute, if we could get some concluding remarks from you we would appreciate it.

Montgomery: Well like I said earlier, I would just like to comment on the non-profit organizations and the organizations that Ms. Dryer is affiliated with, and you know, let them know what a wonderful job they have done. And also a lot of the health organizations, that maybe Dr. MacBride is affiliated with because free shots were given out to a lot of people that were going to be in and out of homes. And I would like to just thank you guys and the organizations that you represent.

Holloway: John, thank you so much, and I am sure that it is good to hear that people appreciate those efforts. And I am sure people will appreciate - your viewers - you participating and volunteering and donating as well. I am going to show you some numbers in just a second, but we're completely out of time, so take a few seconds now to get a pen and a piece of paper if you need any of these important telephone numbers related to tonight's subject, or if you would like to contact us, we will have that information coming up next. But thank you again for your calls and watching. We also want to thank our guests for coming out tonight and participating live and taking the calls. We'll be back next Friday night at 11:00 on UNC-TV as we continue with more discussions and your comments live, 'Recovering from Disaster in our State'. For Black Issues Forum and the entire crew I am Jay Holloway. And you have a blessed evening and a good night. Thanks for watching.

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