Hurricane Irene significantly damaged 148 houses and caused $3.2 million damages in Roanoke Rapids and its extraterritorial jurisdiction, city council was told at its work session tonight.
That damage, according to Brian Duhadaway of the code enforcement section, only includes damages that are reportable, such as trees into houses. It does not include blown roof shingles and vinyl siding, which can still be covered through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, he said.
Interim Public Works Director Larry Chalker said 83 streets were blocked in the city by anywhere from one to five trees and at any given time 12 chainsaws were being used in the cleanup effort by public works, firefighters and recreation department crews as well as four contractors who were on the streets.
By this morning, 850 truckloads of limbs had been carried to Ledgerwood Field, which is serving as a temporary depository, Chalker said. “We're just over halfway complete.”
“Our crews did really, really good jobs,” Chalker said, adding later in his discussion, the city must now bid for contractors for stump removal and grinding. He said the state may permit another section of Ledgerwood for the temporary housing of the limbs.
“I thank the staff for a wonderful job they did under stressful and dangerous circumstances,” Interim City Manager Ed Wyatt said.
Interim Police Chief Jeff Hinton said all city staff worked hard during the storm and after. “Public works staff was out Saturday staying ahead of it. They did an excellent job until they got overwhelmed.”
There were three break-ins that may or may not have been related to power outages, Hinton said. Officer Daniel Hundley's car was damaged by a tree as he checked on a fallen tree at a house.
Hinton said the city will qualify for FEMA reimbursement.
Parks and Recreation Director John Simeon said the Aquatic Center sustained significant roof damage and there was minor damage to the roof of the theater. Fences, back stops and shelters sustained some damages.
Simeon said Dominion Power used the theater as a staging area through Sunday and shampooed the carpet, vacuumed and changed light bulbs before leaving. “They left it in better shape than it was before.”
Seventy Dare County evacuees stayed at T.J. Davis, Simeon said.
Fire Chief Gary Corbet said the fire department began storm activation Saturday at 7 a.m. and answered 110 calls. “That's what we usually answer in two months, we had that in four days.”
Two firefighters, Donnie Gums and Al Cook, worked through the storm despite having damage to their own homes, Corbet said. “They put the citizens in front of themselves.”
