Smaller counties were at a disadvantage as they tried to rebuild
Smaller counties were at a disadvantage as they tried to rebuild after the hurricane, Warren argues.
Citing this Excerpt
Oral History Interview with Edith Warren, August 28, 2002. Interview K-0601. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) in the Southern Oral History Program Collection, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Full Text of the Excerpt
From what I remember reading about the
possibility of rescinding this money, it seems like some state officials
had the view that some of the local communities were dragging their
feet, they hadn't spent all their recovery money yet, so do
they really need it? And I'm wondering about the obstacles
and the challenges that local communities that are really rural, that
don't have a lot of resources, may face in trying to navigate
all the bureaucracy, get all the paperwork together, they may not have a
lot of manpower, sophistication. What do you see?
- EDITH WARREN:
-
That is a good summation, because the larger counties would have staff,
they would have the personnel, more know-how because of the experiences
in dealing with a larger county. Our very small rural counties, like the
Greene Counties, would not have access to those resources. They would
not have access to the processes, staff, to implement these kinds of
programs, and the time and the manpower. So for those areas, it would
take longer to get the pieces put together. And when you have had pretty
much your whole county underwater, you are dealing with large numbers of
pieces that have to be put together. Some locales – Farmville, the town
of Farmville, got its project completed and presented for consideration
first. Well, that could easily be done because we
were talking about one neighborhood. We were talking about smaller
numbers. So that made a considerable difference, you know, if
you're dealing with, say, sixteen houses in a buyout package,
where others are dealing with hundreds of them. So the logistics of the
process has been certainly overwhelming. And we have learned a lot. Some
things I'm sure will be done quite different next time, under
any kind of disaster. And yet there were some things that were in place,
like the immediate emergency response. I've observed the
helicopter work in Greenville. The Forestry Service was in charge of
that command center, and to see them put into work the logistical
process of getting supplies out into the rural areas, and knowing that
you can't get from here to there except by boat or by
helicopter, and to see that command process move so very smoothly and so
very rapidly, was wonderful, that we had that kind of expertise that
could go on the ground immediately and make that kind of response. We
have learned along the way some of our other processes would work
smoother next time, because we have learned some logistics in the
process, of handling the paperwork and how you would go about
applications, and who would do that and do it well. So we would
certainly have information to share from North Carolina with others who
have a need.