August 22, 2025 • 34 mins
Recovery efforts continue in the Outer Banks after Hurricane Erin, as North Carolina also struggles with lingering damage from Helene and Chantal. Governor Stein has created a new gang prevention and intervention task force to address rising concerns about violent crime. Meanwhile, the state has taken control of Bertie County Child Welfare Services following a child fatality.
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
It's five oh five and welcome into a Friday edition
of The Carolina Journal News APUR News Talk eleven, ten
ninety nine to three WBT. I'm Nick Craig. A good
morning to you.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Well.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Hurricane Aaron continues her movement away from the United States
this morning after impacting predominantly the outer banks of the
state yesterday. The big news this morning North Carolina Highway twelve,
which we've been talking about throughout the entirety of this week,
does remain closed in the outer banks as crews work
to remove water and sand from the roadway from overwash
(00:41):
that came on shore during the storm. Tim Hass, the
Communication officer for Division one of the North Carolina Department
of Transportation, did share an update yesterday with folks in
that area, providing some information as to what things are
looking like right now. This is what he had to
say yesterday.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
The worst that I saw today, and remember I went
out on there about noon, which is about extreme low tide.
But the worst that I saw was just north of
Hatteras Village where the water came up basically halfway up
the hub cap of an NCDOT truck.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
So that was pretty deep, and that was where the
dune breaches.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Were the worst. They are also very bad at the
north of Okracoke. Obviously I didn't make it there today,
but the dune breaches at the north end of Okracoke
are also fairly serious.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
And those done breaches are one of the reasons in
which water was able to get onto the roadways in
some area. The DOT communications director was also asked about well,
is there any damage to Highway twelve or is it
just water and sand that is on the roadways.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
We have seen no indication of any actual road damage
at this point, but there is road that's still covered
with sand and water and until that is clear, and
we won't be able to make a final determination as
to whether there's any actual pavement damage.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
And so that's what crews were working on throughout the
after Newton yesterday. They are continuing their work and we'll
continue that likely at daybreak this morning. So Highway twelve
does remain close as they continue to do their assessment
that being DOT and make sure that it is safe
for a movement. So hopefully we'll learn some more details
a little bit later on today. Dare County Manager Bobby
(02:19):
Outen that also spoke to the media yesterday talking about
some of the impacts on the town as well. This
is what he had to tell This is what he
had to say as it relates to some of the
impacts from Hurricane Era and the end at Dare County.
Speaker 5 (02:32):
Well, we've prepared as a regular hurricane as we would
do anything else. We've got a large amount of water
over the road. Did have DOT has done a wonderful
job getting that cleaned up. But we've got another high
tie tonight. So tomorrow morning, when the sun's up and
we can see, then we can look at where we
are with the roads. DT will get out there and
move saying we'll find out what's going on, and then
we'll start looking at what we do to begin the
(02:53):
recovery and to get people back on the island.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Obviously getting folks back onto the island, those not only
that live there, but those that will be vacationing there
over the next couple of weeks a major point of
emphasis for those locally in the outer banks. You're hearing
there the audio from a Dare County manager. This is
what he also had to say yesterday.
Speaker 5 (03:14):
Well, the bridge of the doings is something that we
would have expected in that area, and the good news
is it looks like it was water and sand. We're
hopeful that it's not the pavement because the payment takes
longer to repair to provide access. It's good news bad news.
There's about three places we could have that problem. It
was the southernmost place, and so that means the northern
(03:35):
areas are going to be able to move around in
quicker than maybe the southern area. But hopefully that pavement's
not breached, and if it's not, THENDTL get the water off,
get the sand off. You just saw a bunch of
pumps go by. We sent pump trucks down there to
get that water off of the road so they can work.
And so we're hopeful to get that stuff going in
earnest tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
And so that is going to be the effort over
the next couple of days to get that road cleared out,
get Highway twelve opening folks back onto certain area or
get them back into certain areas there in Dare County.
Conditions worsened throughout the outer banks late in the day
on Wednesday, and really the worst of the storm, which
as you heard from the Dare County Manager and from
(04:15):
DOT the storm did not make an immediate impact as
was predicted to be the case the entire time, so
the direct impacts from the storm were not felt immediately
because it did not make landfall. However, some of those
high breaking waves did push a water and sand onto
some roadways in that area, predominantly North Carolina Highway twelve.
(04:36):
That work does continue this morning. Some other information from
a dot shows that throughout the vast majority of the
Highway twelve span, the road is a reopened. However, there
are still some certain areas that are closed. According to
drive NC dot gov, which is the official website that
tracks road closures from dot across North Carolina, they do
(04:59):
indicate that near Hatteras there is a possibility that Highway
twelve could reopen, they say eight am this morning. Obviously,
that is going to be reliant on cruise surveying the damage,
checking out all those additional details. Will continue to track
that throughout the weekend and provide any additional updates coming
(05:21):
up Monday morning as we get them right here on
the Carolina Journal News Hour. Taking a look at some
other statewide news this morning. Earlier this week, Governor Josh
Stein signed an executive order to create a Gang Prevention
and Intervention Task Force, continuing the Office of Violence Prevention
(05:41):
and re establishing the Community Violence Advisory Board within that office,
with the Governor saying in a press release earlier this week, quote,
to keep people safe, we need to do everything we
can to prevent violence from occurring in the first place.
I am proud to advance these initiatives to seek the
root causes of violence, including gang violence, across our state.
(06:04):
We must bring law enforcement, health professionals, and community organizers
to the table to create safer communities. In March of
twenty twenty three, former Governor Roy Cooper established the OVP,
that's the Office of Violence Prevention through an executive order
within the Department of Public Safety, which at the time
(06:25):
was the first of its kind anywhere in the Southern
portion of the United States. Stein re establishing the Office's
Advisory Board, comprised of health professionals, government leaders, law enforcement officers,
and community based organizations after it expired on March thirty
first of this year. The office will highlight initiatives to
(06:46):
strengthen firearms safety, expand cross sector partnerships across the state,
and provide training and education to empower local communities to
implement a holistic, evidence informed strategies to and prevent violence
in the long term. Gang activity has also become a
major issue across North Carolina. In the Governor's Executive Order,
(07:09):
he says that there are approximately four thousand validated gang
members across North Carolina, and one alarming statistic is the
rise in youth gang activity, with suspected juvenile gang crime
increasing nearly fifty percent over the past five years. The
twenty twenty five Gang Prevention Legislative Report from the Governor's
(07:33):
Crime Commission as well as the State Bureau of Investigation
and State Highway Patrol noted that gang involved at risk
youth have more mental health problems than other at risk youth,
and are twice as likely to have negative peer relationships
as others, and are nearly twice as likely to have
a family with criminal behavioral history. The report recommended the
(07:56):
creation of a task force focused on gang prevention. As
a result, Governor josh Stein also established the Gang Prevention
and Intervention Task Force within the new Governor's Crime Commission
or the Governor's Crime Commission, there co chaired by the
Department of Adult Corrections Secretary and the Director of the
(08:19):
North Carolina Office of Violence Prevention. The task force of
membership will consist of law enforcement, education leaders, legal representatives,
mental or substance abuse use organizations, and people who have
successfully divorced themselves and left the gang activity throughout North Carolina.
(08:39):
The task force will focus on reducing the presence and
impact of gang activity across the state, including keeping young
people out of gangs. That has been a big time
discussion and conversation throughout the state of North Carolina over
the last couple of years. With that increase in the
gang activity. You've seen the news reports across North Carolina.
(09:02):
You've also seen some of those numbers, some of those
statistics coming out showing some of the increases there as well.
We've got some additional some more details on this story
this morning over on our website that's Carolina Journal dot com.
The headline story there, Stein creates a gang Prevention and
Intervention task Force. We'll also get some more details on
(09:23):
that with Teresa Opeka from Carolina Journal dot Com coming
up here in just a few minutes. It's five twenty.
Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, news Stock eleven,
ten ninety nine three WBT don't forget if you miss
any portion of our show weekday mornings five to six
right here on WBT. You can check out the Carolina
(09:45):
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It's the Caroline a Journal News Hour podcast. To download
and subscribe now. A lot of the talk this week
across the state of North Carolina surrounded Hurricane Aarin relatively
(10:09):
limited impacts across the eastern half of our state, some
minor flooding and some beach erosion in the outer banks. Thankfully,
it didn't end up being a huge major storm affecting
the coastal portions of North Carolina. However, there are a
couple of natural disasters over the last year that are
still on folks mines. They include, of course, Hurricane Helene
out in the western half of the state, and Tropical
(10:29):
Storm Chantal, which affected the central area of North Carolina
earlier this year. Continues to be along road to recovery.
Teresa Opeka with Carolina Journal dot Com it joins us
on the News Hour, Teresa. Of course, Helene's still with
everybody's mind, Chantal's smaller geographic area. What's going on with
recovery and relief efforts with those storms.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Sure, thanks Nick for having me. So yeah, so we're
still the states, still picking up the pieces, as you will,
from last year's Hurricane Helene. I can't believe it's going
to be almost a year since that occurred. And also
we've got tropical storms Shental that we're all in the
central part of the state, most people in the Meben area,
(11:10):
that those areas are still contending with. And of course
now we had Hurricane Aaron that hit the Outer Banks,
maybe not a direct hit, but from the you know,
the surf and the water and it's just made for
you know, the tide. It just made things really, really
pretty scary for some people. Highway twelve was covered. So yeah,
(11:31):
so still recovering from last year and even this year storms.
So you know, when Governor Stein had the press conference
for Hurricane Aaron preparations earlier this week, we did hear
from Emergency Management Director Will Ray. He says, well, you know,
all eyes are on Hurricane Aaron right now. And rightly
(11:51):
so didn't want anybody to think that they forgot about
western North Carolina. He said. The Joint Recovery Office in
Asheville is still open, as also the multi agency Recovery Centers,
who he said served over sixteen thousand survivors of Hurricane Helen,
and also disaster recovery centers in central North Carolina are
(12:12):
also open in local communities that were affected by Tropical
Storm Chantel. He did add that state individual assistance is
available to Chantells survivors while the state awaits a decision
from the federal government on the state's request for a
major Disaster Declaration for public assistance. You know what that does,
That provides additional recovery resources to those impacted communities and
(12:36):
the state, just what Governor Stein did earlier this week
with Hurricane Aaron. At first he didn't declare that he
didn't think it was warranted, but then he took a
look at and said, you know, given the degree in
all the destruction that did occur with Tropical Storm Chantel,
he did went ahead and declared an emergency on that part.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
You know, and with a lot of this story, so
we're talking about money coming in from the federal government. FEMA,
the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has gained a lot of
scrutiny over the last couple of years, not just in
North Carolina, but across the United States and even you know,
way out to the west in Hawaii with some natural
disasters in the past. President Donald Trump has called for
(13:18):
FEMA to be dissolved essentially sometime later on this year
or early next year, because it seems like there's still
a lagged into layed response to a lot of this
federal money.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Oh yeah, absolutely, you know. Governor Stein said he did
get word that FEMA did approve eighty five million dollars
in reimbursement for Helene, and which was welcome news for that,
but he says there's still one hundred million dollars for
other projects that needs to be reimbursed. That causes a
strain for local governments in the state. And he's thankful
(13:49):
also for the state's congressional delegation with working for him,
working with him on trying to get those funds for
people who definitely need it. So he said about FEMA,
you know, President Trump was adamant about, you know, maybe
doing away with it. But there's been some news in
the last month instead of dismantling it, they're going to
(14:11):
try to remake it. And Governor Stein said that is
welcome news, you know. He said, there's a lot of
turmoil obviously in DC, but latest indication is that they're
going to try to reform FEMA, and he really welcomed
that news because he said they have the resources, more
so than the states do to contend with disasters, natural
disasters such as these. But yeah, some funding is definitely
(14:34):
lacking almost a year later for Hallene survivors.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Well, obviously, continue to watch how that unfolds at the
federal level up in Washington, d C. With FEMA. Teresa,
I'd be remiss if I didn't bring up Unfortunately, North
Carolina is very checkered past with hurricane relief and recovery.
You covered Encore with a couple of hurricanes back almost
a decade ago in North Carolina a big major black
(14:58):
eye for the Cooper administration, as almost ten years later,
there are still folks without homes. There's really nobody else
to point a finger out except for state government for that.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Yes, yes, correct, I mean we had numerous state government
ops hearings over the last couple of years with the
former head of ENCOREPS of Laura hoggshead where we had
the different legislators asking questions, how come it's taking so long?
And again it's not to be funny, but it's wash
(15:30):
Rent's repeat, which is what it was. Every time you
have a hearing, it's like, well, okay, we know we're
not doing good, we'll fix it. We're going to do better, promise,
and we're going to help these people. And it was
the same thing every time. How long? How long can
the people who are still living in hotels a decade later,
almost a decade later be comforted by that? So yeah,
I mean it is definitely a black eye in the
(15:51):
Cooper administration. And also that does not vode well for
him for running for state Senate or excuse me us
rather if you take a look at his track record,
I mean, he really hasn't had a lot of contention before.
But yeah, that is definitely a mark against him and
his whole administration. I mean, on the human side, politics aside,
(16:14):
people still do not have a home nearly a decade later,
So with more disasters happening, it's just unfortunately that's just
the way it happens. You know, definitely people are in
need now and for the last decade, so I have
to keep our eyes on this as well.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
Now, Josh Stein made a change. He did not decide
to continue ENCORE for western North Carolina relief from Helene,
started a brand new office called Grow and See. They
have been working since earlier this year when the governor
was sworn in and got those efforts kicked off. Reports
are theresa that they could begin some home construction or
repairs within the next couple of months. But as you noted,
(16:52):
we're almost a year out from the storm as it
stands right now, and I'm sure some folks are relatively
anxious wondering how that response is going to be in
the western half of the state.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
That's right, That's right, And you know, some legislators were critical.
They've had a couple hearings for that agency as well
over the past year to see how things weremoving. You
want to give them the benefit of the doubt because
obviously it's a new agency and trying to separate themselves
from ENCORE. But if you're going to have the same
issues cropping up as you did with ENCORE, I mean
(17:24):
you really have to have a really, really good watchdog
eyes Egle Eyes on the recovery process for Haleen that
was severely lacking for the storms of Matthew and Florence
in eastern North Carolina. So it's a time will tell situation,
but hopefully they do learn their lessons from all the
(17:48):
foibles from the Cooper administration.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
No question about that. You can read some additional coverage
from the governor and from Will Ray earlier this week
at a press briefing for Hurricane Aaron. That article is
available over on our website, Carolina Journal dot com. We
appreciate the update. This morning, teres Opeika joins us on
the Carolina Journal News Hour. It's five thirty six. Welcome
(18:15):
back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Newstock eleven, ten
ninety nine to three WBT. We've got some concerning news
out of northeastern North Carolina this morning. The North Carolina
Department of Health and Human Services is set to temporarily
assume leadership of the child welfare services in Birdie County
at their Department of Social Services that began the last Friday.
(18:38):
According to a press release from DHHS, this is just
the fifth time in state history that the Department of
Health and Human Services has taken over a county social
service department, and the first time that any county county's
DSS has been taken over twice by the state. Birdie
County is in northeast North CA, Marolina, just north of
(19:01):
the Greenville area, relatively a remote area of the state,
but some concerning information. This morning, state officials said in
a press release that the actions follows months of intervention
and oversight, which were prompted by the December twenty twenty
four death of a child who had who had prior
involvement with the Birdie County Department of Social Services. The
(19:24):
release notes that after reviewing the facility and additional cases,
the Department of Health and Human Services at the state
level placed the local Department of Social Service board on
a corrective action plan that happened earlier this year in March,
due to quote serious concerns about its administration of child
welfare services. In in August, the fourteenth letter to county
(19:48):
leaders the Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health
and Human Services detailed multiple failures in local leadership to
follow state directives, manage a critic case appropriately, or present
to the court how their actions have contributed to the
ongoing safety risks for children. The letter also cited quote
(20:10):
serious concerns about the accuracy, integrity, and transparency of information
provided by staff at all levels of the organization. The
letter reads, in part, quote, the mismanagement of this case
and failure of the Birdie County Department of Social Services
to adhere to the directives of NCDHHS has magnified our
(20:32):
concerns about Birdie County's ability to adequately assess child safety
and risk. The conclusion of the letter notes this poses
a substantial threat to the safety and welfare of children
in Birdie County. According to the letter, effective upon a
state takeover, which again was last Friday, the county DSS
(20:53):
director will be stripped of all of service delivery powers
responsibilities related to child wealth there under North Carolina General Statue.
The press release also states that dhhs' staff will be
on site during the interim period to stabilize operations, manage services,
(21:13):
and develop a compliance plan for the local county office.
The Secretary of DHHS emphasized in the press release the
urgency of the intervention, saying quote, we take very seriously
our responsibility to ensure the safety and well being of
every child in North Carolina. By taking this urgent action,
(21:34):
we will work collaboratively with a Birdie County leadership to
strengthen the county's practice, delivery, and administration of child welfare services.
Birdie County leaders a voice support for the move, The
chair of the county's Board of Commission said in a
press release quote, we care greatly for the safety of
children and families in Birdie and across the state. We
(21:58):
are grateful for this war. The takeover is in fact
authorized under state law North Carolina General Statue oneh eight
a DASH seventy four, which allows the state to assume
direct control of a county's Department of Social Services operations
when local agencies failed to comply with child welfare laws
(22:18):
and policies. This is the second time that the state
has come in and taken over those local Department of
Social Services operations in Birdie County, and only the fifth
time in the history of the state since that has
been something entrined in state law and general statue. We've
got some additional details, including that full letter to officials
(22:39):
in Birdie County over on our website this morning, Carolina
Journal dot com. The headline on that story, State takes
control of Birdie County child Welfare Services after fatality, A
sad string of events up there. Those additional details available
over at Carolina Journal dot com, where it's now five
point forty one news TAC eleven ten ninety nine to
three WBT. Coming up later this year, municipal elections will
(23:06):
be taking place across the state of North Carolina. A
lot of local issues being discussed across the board. One
of those big discussions in conversations is about community safety
and community violence. Governor Josh Stein signing an executive order
this week of dealing with some violence that could exist
in communities across North Carolina. To walk us through some
of those details, Teresa Opeka, Carolina Journal dot Com joins
(23:29):
us on the news hour. Teresa, what are you following
with this new executive order from Josh Stein's office?
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Sure Neck, thanks for having me so yeah, so earlier
this week, as you mentioned, Governor Stein signed that executive order.
It creates a Gang Prevention and Intervention Task Force, and
it also continues the Office of Violence Prevention and that
was started by former Governor Roy Cooper in March of
twenty twenty three. And within that office, he also Governor
(23:59):
Stein rised dablish the Community Violence Advisory Board that actually
expired earlier this year, I believe in March. So you know,
Governor Steien says, to keep people safe, we need to
do everything we can to prevent violence from recurring in
the first place. And he said he's proud to advanced
these initiatives to seek out the root causes of violence,
and that includes gang violence. So as I just mentioned,
(24:22):
you know, Governor Cooper created that back in March, and
Stein also re established that office's advisory Board that's comprised
of health professionals, government leaders, law enforcement officers, and the like.
And that office what it does, It highlights initiatives to
strength firearms, strengthen firearms safety, expand cross sector partnerships across
(24:44):
the state, and also provides training and education to empower
local communities basically to address and prevent violence. Yeah, because
you know we've been doing stories on this. Gang violence
is definitely on the rise across North Carolina.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
Teresa, I mean, it all sounds good on paper. I
hear what you're saying here the comments there from the governor,
But if we look at the statistics and look at
the numbers we are seeing in certain crime areas and
in certain groups increases of nearly fifty percent over the
last five years while this entity was in place under
the previous governor. Again might sound good on paper, the
(25:21):
real question I'm sure many folks are asking is does
it actually have an impact?
Speaker 2 (25:26):
Right, we had, like you said and mentioned about those numbers,
we had stories from the last couple of years. Earlier
this year in the Raleigh area and might mispronounce it
trend de Aragra gang member was arrested in Raleigh. We
also had other similar arrests in the Charlotte area. As
you mentioned about municipal elections in particular Charlotte Mecklenburg County
(25:51):
has a few coming up in September, so that might
be of some note. So, yeah, this office was established
in twenty twenty three. You know, what are the ramifications?
What has truly happened over the last couple of years.
It seems like we've had more more gangs and more
violence come to the community, specifically the urban communities and
(26:15):
maybe Mecklenburg County, Charlotte and also raleg Wake County, certain
city centers, and we've also had you know, Democrat lawmakers,
not just in North Carolina, but across the US, you know,
going against these different policies, you know, border policies or
immigration bills we had here in North Carolina. Say no,
(26:36):
they they are. Maybe they're targeting different people. But when
you look at this, and you know President Trump getting elected,
people want safety in their communities. That that's that's one
of the number one issues on a lot of people's minds,
especially in urban areas. So getting back to the Cooper
administration and their office they created, I'm not sure how
(26:56):
well that really panned out over the last couple of years.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Yeah, And to highlight that point, of course, the big
discussion on going no pun intended in Washington, DC is
literally the District of Columbia and the President making some
changes there, using some executive authority to try and clean
up the streets in DC. In the executive order, Teresa,
the governor noted that there are approximately four thousand validated
gang members across the state. And I think an even
(27:21):
more alarming thing in the Governor's executive order youth gang activity,
with suspected juvenile gang crime increasing fifty percent. There's no
way you could look at that and say it's a
good statistic or number.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
No, No, I mean you're you're hearing news stories all
the time. You know, people teenagers maybe stealing cars or
finding guns, and it doesn't matter about gun laws. If
someone wants to find a gun, they're going to find
a gun or they find it, you know, maybe in
a family member's home or whatever the case is. But
(27:54):
there are a lot of youth that are now turning
to gangs, maybe for acceptance what exact reasoning is. But yeah,
that statistic is really really alarming. So you're hearing the
news reports all the time. So I mean, give the
governor some you know, some some you know credit that
he wants to keep the people safe, community safe, but uh,
(28:16):
it's a it's a wait and see approach of course.
Look again, this office was put into place a couple
of years ago. But yeah, those statistics are they're pretty
scary and and you know, also for for the youth
of the area, it's just another thing that is definitely
not helping them.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
I would imagine that this is probably going to be
a pretty major talking point in those municipal elections predominantly
in the larger metropolitan areas coming up later. On this year.
You can read more details about the Governor's executive order
some of those crime statistics that we are talking about
this morning over on our website, Carolina Journal dot com.
We appreciate the update. Teresa Opeka joins us on the
(28:52):
Carolina Journal News Hour. Good morning, Yea, and it's five
fifty two. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News our
newstock eleven ten ninety nine three WBT as we continue
our coverage of Hurricane Aaron and the impacts across North Carolina. Fortunately,
(29:12):
that storm not making a direct impact on the state
and the continuing its movement away from North Carolina this morning.
Highway twelve, which is one of the roadways we've been
talking about all week, does remain closed this morning as
cruise from the Department of North Carolina Department of Transportation.
We're on site yesterday afternoon and we'll continue on site
(29:33):
throughout the day today to check on the status. Tim Hass,
who is the communications officer for the Division one of NCDOT,
spoke to media yesterday. This is what he had to
say about some of the impacts from aarin out in
the Outer Banks.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
The worst that I saw today and remember I went
out on there about noon, which is about at extreme
low tide. But the worst that I saw was just
north of Hatteras Village, where the water came up basically
halfway up the hubcap of an NCDOT truck, So that
was pretty deep, and that was where the done breaches
were the worst. They are also very bad at the
(30:10):
north of Okracoke. Obviously I didn't make it there today,
but the dune breaches at the north end of Okracoke
are also fairly serious.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
Yeah, those doom breaches obviously will be a big time,
long term issue for portions of the outer banks. One
of the questions what needs to be done to get
Highway twelve reopen so the folks can begin returning to
their homes.
Speaker 4 (30:30):
We have seen no indication of any actual road damage
at this point, but there is road that's still covered
with sand and water, and until that is cleared, we
won't be able to make a final determination as to
whether there's any actual pavement.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
Damage, and of course that is going to be very relevant.
If there is no damage, crews just have to work
on pumping the water and sand off of the roadways
and then it should be able to reopen. If there
is any pavement damage, some permanent structure damage. Obviously, that
is going to be a longer term recovery, with some
probably temporary stop gaps put in place so that folks
(31:03):
can begin the process of returning to that area. Dare County,
which took the brunt of the storm, a state of
emergency issue there earlier this week. The county manager also
spoke it to media yesterday afternoon. This is what he
had to say.
Speaker 5 (31:17):
Well, we've prepared as a regular hurricane as we would
do anything else. We've got a large amount of water
over the road. Did have Dot has done a wonderful
job getting that cleaned up, but we've got another high
tie tonight. So tomorrow morning, when the sun's up and
we can see, then we can look at where we
are with the roadst get out there and move saying,
we'll find out what's going on and then we'll start
looking at what we do to begin the recovery and
(31:39):
to get people back on the island.
Speaker 1 (31:41):
That's Dare County Manager Bobby Outen yesterday speaking to media,
also talking about some other impacts from the storm as
well well.
Speaker 5 (31:50):
The breach of the doings is something that we would
have expected in that area, and the good news is
it looks like it was water and sand. We're hopeful
that it's not the pavement because the payment takes a
lot longer to repair to provide access. It's good news
bad news. There's about three places we could have that problem.
It was the southernmost place, and so that means that
(32:10):
northern areas are going to be able to move around
in quicker than maybe the southern area. But hopefully that
pavement's not breached, and if it's not, then DTL get
the water off, get the sand off. You just saw
a bunch of pumps go by. We sent pump trucks
down there to get that water off of the road
so they can work. And so we're hopeful to get
that stuff going in earnest tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
And so they're going to be working on that again
throughout the afternoon yesterday, and once daybreak hits the North
Carolina coast this morning, crews will be back out on
the scene beginning that process of clearing those roadways, doing
their assessments and surveys and making sure that it is
safe for folks to drive. Just looking at the NCDOT
website this morning, a drive at nc dot gov where
(32:51):
they provide some of this traffic information. It does indicate
that Highway twelve it could open as early as eight
am this morning. However, I'm of the mindset that is
just kind of a temporary stand by number. Cruise will
still continue the process of assessing some of the damage
in that area before they open it back up and
let folks drive in this area. This is near Hatteras.
(33:15):
Both directions of a Highway twelve do remain closed. They
closed back Wednesday ahead of some of the impacts of
Hurricane Erin. Doom breaches and other effects from the storm
will continue to be looked at in the coming days
and weeks, and then, of course with some of those
dunes getting the corp of engineers and other folks on
board to begin the process of repairing and recovering those
(33:38):
It is still the middle of the Atlantic hurricane season.
All eyes do remain on the tropics, as there are
a couple of other areas that the National Hurricane Center
is investigating. This morning, we'll keep you up to date
with any North Carolina impact and recovery from Hurricane Erin
right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour. That's going
to do it for a Friday edition at WBT News
(34:00):
is next, followed by Good Morning BT. We're back with
you Monday morning, five to six right here on Newstalk eleven,
ten and ninety nine three WBT
It's five oh five and welcome into a Friday edition
of The Carolina Journal News APUR News Talk eleven, ten
ninety nine to three WBT. I'm Nick Craig. A good
morning to you.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Well.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Hurricane Aaron continues her movement away from the United States
this morning after impacting predominantly the outer banks of the
state yesterday. The big news this morning North Carolina Highway twelve,
which we've been talking about throughout the entirety of this week,
does remain closed in the outer banks as crews work
to remove water and sand from the roadway from overwash
(00:41):
that came on shore during the storm. Tim Hass, the
Communication officer for Division one of the North Carolina Department
of Transportation, did share an update yesterday with folks in
that area, providing some information as to what things are
looking like right now. This is what he had to
say yesterday.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
The worst that I saw today, and remember I went
out on there about noon, which is about extreme low tide.
But the worst that I saw was just north of
Hatteras Village where the water came up basically halfway up
the hub cap of an NCDOT truck.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
So that was pretty deep, and that was where the
dune breaches.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Were the worst. They are also very bad at the
north of Okracoke. Obviously I didn't make it there today,
but the dune breaches at the north end of Okracoke
are also fairly serious.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
And those done breaches are one of the reasons in
which water was able to get onto the roadways in
some area. The DOT communications director was also asked about well,
is there any damage to Highway twelve or is it
just water and sand that is on the roadways.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
We have seen no indication of any actual road damage
at this point, but there is road that's still covered
with sand and water and until that is clear, and
we won't be able to make a final determination as
to whether there's any actual pavement damage.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
And so that's what crews were working on throughout the
after Newton yesterday. They are continuing their work and we'll
continue that likely at daybreak this morning. So Highway twelve
does remain close as they continue to do their assessment
that being DOT and make sure that it is safe
for a movement. So hopefully we'll learn some more details
a little bit later on today. Dare County Manager Bobby
(02:19):
Outen that also spoke to the media yesterday talking about
some of the impacts on the town as well. This
is what he had to tell This is what he
had to say as it relates to some of the
impacts from Hurricane Era and the end at Dare County.
Speaker 5 (02:32):
Well, we've prepared as a regular hurricane as we would
do anything else. We've got a large amount of water
over the road. Did have DOT has done a wonderful
job getting that cleaned up. But we've got another high
tie tonight. So tomorrow morning, when the sun's up and
we can see, then we can look at where we
are with the roads. DT will get out there and
move saying we'll find out what's going on, and then
we'll start looking at what we do to begin the
(02:53):
recovery and to get people back on the island.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Obviously getting folks back onto the island, those not only
that live there, but those that will be vacationing there
over the next couple of weeks a major point of
emphasis for those locally in the outer banks. You're hearing
there the audio from a Dare County manager. This is
what he also had to say yesterday.
Speaker 5 (03:14):
Well, the bridge of the doings is something that we
would have expected in that area, and the good news
is it looks like it was water and sand. We're
hopeful that it's not the pavement because the payment takes
longer to repair to provide access. It's good news bad news.
There's about three places we could have that problem. It
was the southernmost place, and so that means the northern
(03:35):
areas are going to be able to move around in
quicker than maybe the southern area. But hopefully that pavement's
not breached, and if it's not, THENDTL get the water off,
get the sand off. You just saw a bunch of
pumps go by. We sent pump trucks down there to
get that water off of the road so they can work.
And so we're hopeful to get that stuff going in
earnest tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
And so that is going to be the effort over
the next couple of days to get that road cleared out,
get Highway twelve opening folks back onto certain area or
get them back into certain areas there in Dare County.
Conditions worsened throughout the outer banks late in the day
on Wednesday, and really the worst of the storm, which
as you heard from the Dare County Manager and from
(04:15):
DOT the storm did not make an immediate impact as
was predicted to be the case the entire time, so
the direct impacts from the storm were not felt immediately
because it did not make landfall. However, some of those
high breaking waves did push a water and sand onto
some roadways in that area, predominantly North Carolina Highway twelve.
(04:36):
That work does continue this morning. Some other information from
a dot shows that throughout the vast majority of the
Highway twelve span, the road is a reopened. However, there
are still some certain areas that are closed. According to
drive NC dot gov, which is the official website that
tracks road closures from dot across North Carolina, they do
(04:59):
indicate that near Hatteras there is a possibility that Highway
twelve could reopen, they say eight am this morning. Obviously,
that is going to be reliant on cruise surveying the damage,
checking out all those additional details. Will continue to track
that throughout the weekend and provide any additional updates coming
(05:21):
up Monday morning as we get them right here on
the Carolina Journal News Hour. Taking a look at some
other statewide news this morning. Earlier this week, Governor Josh
Stein signed an executive order to create a Gang Prevention
and Intervention Task Force, continuing the Office of Violence Prevention
(05:41):
and re establishing the Community Violence Advisory Board within that office,
with the Governor saying in a press release earlier this week, quote,
to keep people safe, we need to do everything we
can to prevent violence from occurring in the first place.
I am proud to advance these initiatives to seek the
root causes of violence, including gang violence, across our state.
(06:04):
We must bring law enforcement, health professionals, and community organizers
to the table to create safer communities. In March of
twenty twenty three, former Governor Roy Cooper established the OVP,
that's the Office of Violence Prevention through an executive order
within the Department of Public Safety, which at the time
(06:25):
was the first of its kind anywhere in the Southern
portion of the United States. Stein re establishing the Office's
Advisory Board, comprised of health professionals, government leaders, law enforcement officers,
and community based organizations after it expired on March thirty
first of this year. The office will highlight initiatives to
(06:46):
strengthen firearms safety, expand cross sector partnerships across the state,
and provide training and education to empower local communities to
implement a holistic, evidence informed strategies to and prevent violence
in the long term. Gang activity has also become a
major issue across North Carolina. In the Governor's Executive Order,
(07:09):
he says that there are approximately four thousand validated gang
members across North Carolina, and one alarming statistic is the
rise in youth gang activity, with suspected juvenile gang crime
increasing nearly fifty percent over the past five years. The
twenty twenty five Gang Prevention Legislative Report from the Governor's
(07:33):
Crime Commission as well as the State Bureau of Investigation
and State Highway Patrol noted that gang involved at risk
youth have more mental health problems than other at risk youth,
and are twice as likely to have negative peer relationships
as others, and are nearly twice as likely to have
a family with criminal behavioral history. The report recommended the
(07:56):
creation of a task force focused on gang prevention. As
a result, Governor josh Stein also established the Gang Prevention
and Intervention Task Force within the new Governor's Crime Commission
or the Governor's Crime Commission, there co chaired by the
Department of Adult Corrections Secretary and the Director of the
(08:19):
North Carolina Office of Violence Prevention. The task force of
membership will consist of law enforcement, education leaders, legal representatives,
mental or substance abuse use organizations, and people who have
successfully divorced themselves and left the gang activity throughout North Carolina.
(08:39):
The task force will focus on reducing the presence and
impact of gang activity across the state, including keeping young
people out of gangs. That has been a big time
discussion and conversation throughout the state of North Carolina over
the last couple of years. With that increase in the
gang activity. You've seen the news reports across North Carolina.
(09:02):
You've also seen some of those numbers, some of those
statistics coming out showing some of the increases there as well.
We've got some additional some more details on this story
this morning over on our website that's Carolina Journal dot com.
The headline story there, Stein creates a gang Prevention and
Intervention task Force. We'll also get some more details on
(09:23):
that with Teresa Opeka from Carolina Journal dot Com coming
up here in just a few minutes. It's five twenty.
Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, news Stock eleven,
ten ninety nine three WBT don't forget if you miss
any portion of our show weekday mornings five to six
right here on WBT. You can check out the Carolina
(09:45):
Journal News Hour podcast. It's available in Google Play, Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
anywhere you get your shows. Search for the Carolina Journal
News Hour, tap the subscribe or a follow button, and
you'll get a new program delivered each and every weekday morning.
It's the Caroline a Journal News Hour podcast. To download
and subscribe now. A lot of the talk this week
across the state of North Carolina surrounded Hurricane Aarin relatively
(10:09):
limited impacts across the eastern half of our state, some
minor flooding and some beach erosion in the outer banks. Thankfully,
it didn't end up being a huge major storm affecting
the coastal portions of North Carolina. However, there are a
couple of natural disasters over the last year that are
still on folks mines. They include, of course, Hurricane Helene
out in the western half of the state, and Tropical
(10:29):
Storm Chantal, which affected the central area of North Carolina
earlier this year. Continues to be along road to recovery.
Teresa Opeka with Carolina Journal dot Com it joins us
on the News Hour, Teresa. Of course, Helene's still with
everybody's mind, Chantal's smaller geographic area. What's going on with
recovery and relief efforts with those storms.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Sure, thanks Nick for having me. So yeah, so we're
still the states, still picking up the pieces, as you will,
from last year's Hurricane Helene. I can't believe it's going
to be almost a year since that occurred. And also
we've got tropical storms Shental that we're all in the
central part of the state, most people in the Meben area,
(11:10):
that those areas are still contending with. And of course
now we had Hurricane Aaron that hit the Outer Banks,
maybe not a direct hit, but from the you know,
the surf and the water and it's just made for
you know, the tide. It just made things really, really
pretty scary for some people. Highway twelve was covered. So yeah,
(11:31):
so still recovering from last year and even this year storms.
So you know, when Governor Stein had the press conference
for Hurricane Aaron preparations earlier this week, we did hear
from Emergency Management Director Will Ray. He says, well, you know,
all eyes are on Hurricane Aaron right now. And rightly
(11:51):
so didn't want anybody to think that they forgot about
western North Carolina. He said. The Joint Recovery Office in
Asheville is still open, as also the multi agency Recovery Centers,
who he said served over sixteen thousand survivors of Hurricane Helen,
and also disaster recovery centers in central North Carolina are
(12:12):
also open in local communities that were affected by Tropical
Storm Chantel. He did add that state individual assistance is
available to Chantells survivors while the state awaits a decision
from the federal government on the state's request for a
major Disaster Declaration for public assistance. You know what that does,
That provides additional recovery resources to those impacted communities and
(12:36):
the state, just what Governor Stein did earlier this week
with Hurricane Aaron. At first he didn't declare that he
didn't think it was warranted, but then he took a
look at and said, you know, given the degree in
all the destruction that did occur with Tropical Storm Chantel,
he did went ahead and declared an emergency on that part.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
You know, and with a lot of this story, so
we're talking about money coming in from the federal government. FEMA,
the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has gained a lot of
scrutiny over the last couple of years, not just in
North Carolina, but across the United States and even you know,
way out to the west in Hawaii with some natural
disasters in the past. President Donald Trump has called for
(13:18):
FEMA to be dissolved essentially sometime later on this year
or early next year, because it seems like there's still
a lagged into layed response to a lot of this
federal money.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Oh yeah, absolutely, you know. Governor Stein said he did
get word that FEMA did approve eighty five million dollars
in reimbursement for Helene, and which was welcome news for that,
but he says there's still one hundred million dollars for
other projects that needs to be reimbursed. That causes a
strain for local governments in the state. And he's thankful
(13:49):
also for the state's congressional delegation with working for him,
working with him on trying to get those funds for
people who definitely need it. So he said about FEMA,
you know, President Trump was adamant about, you know, maybe
doing away with it. But there's been some news in
the last month instead of dismantling it, they're going to
(14:11):
try to remake it. And Governor Stein said that is
welcome news, you know. He said, there's a lot of
turmoil obviously in DC, but latest indication is that they're
going to try to reform FEMA, and he really welcomed
that news because he said they have the resources, more
so than the states do to contend with disasters, natural
disasters such as these. But yeah, some funding is definitely
(14:34):
lacking almost a year later for Hallene survivors.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Well, obviously, continue to watch how that unfolds at the
federal level up in Washington, d C. With FEMA. Teresa,
I'd be remiss if I didn't bring up Unfortunately, North
Carolina is very checkered past with hurricane relief and recovery.
You covered Encore with a couple of hurricanes back almost
a decade ago in North Carolina a big major black
(14:58):
eye for the Cooper administration, as almost ten years later,
there are still folks without homes. There's really nobody else
to point a finger out except for state government for that.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Yes, yes, correct, I mean we had numerous state government
ops hearings over the last couple of years with the
former head of ENCOREPS of Laura hoggshead where we had
the different legislators asking questions, how come it's taking so long?
And again it's not to be funny, but it's wash
(15:30):
Rent's repeat, which is what it was. Every time you
have a hearing, it's like, well, okay, we know we're
not doing good, we'll fix it. We're going to do better, promise,
and we're going to help these people. And it was
the same thing every time. How long? How long can
the people who are still living in hotels a decade later,
almost a decade later be comforted by that? So yeah,
I mean it is definitely a black eye in the
(15:51):
Cooper administration. And also that does not vode well for
him for running for state Senate or excuse me us
rather if you take a look at his track record,
I mean, he really hasn't had a lot of contention before.
But yeah, that is definitely a mark against him and
his whole administration. I mean, on the human side, politics aside,
(16:14):
people still do not have a home nearly a decade later,
So with more disasters happening, it's just unfortunately that's just
the way it happens. You know, definitely people are in
need now and for the last decade, so I have
to keep our eyes on this as well.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
Now, Josh Stein made a change. He did not decide
to continue ENCORE for western North Carolina relief from Helene,
started a brand new office called Grow and See. They
have been working since earlier this year when the governor
was sworn in and got those efforts kicked off. Reports
are theresa that they could begin some home construction or
repairs within the next couple of months. But as you noted,
(16:52):
we're almost a year out from the storm as it
stands right now, and I'm sure some folks are relatively
anxious wondering how that response is going to be in
the western half of the state.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
That's right, That's right, And you know, some legislators were critical.
They've had a couple hearings for that agency as well
over the past year to see how things weremoving. You
want to give them the benefit of the doubt because
obviously it's a new agency and trying to separate themselves
from ENCORE. But if you're going to have the same
issues cropping up as you did with ENCORE, I mean
(17:24):
you really have to have a really, really good watchdog
eyes Egle Eyes on the recovery process for Haleen that
was severely lacking for the storms of Matthew and Florence
in eastern North Carolina. So it's a time will tell situation,
but hopefully they do learn their lessons from all the
(17:48):
foibles from the Cooper administration.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
No question about that. You can read some additional coverage
from the governor and from Will Ray earlier this week
at a press briefing for Hurricane Aaron. That article is
available over on our website, Carolina Journal dot com. We
appreciate the update. This morning, teres Opeika joins us on
the Carolina Journal News Hour. It's five thirty six. Welcome
(18:15):
back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Newstock eleven, ten
ninety nine to three WBT. We've got some concerning news
out of northeastern North Carolina this morning. The North Carolina
Department of Health and Human Services is set to temporarily
assume leadership of the child welfare services in Birdie County
at their Department of Social Services that began the last Friday.
(18:38):
According to a press release from DHHS, this is just
the fifth time in state history that the Department of
Health and Human Services has taken over a county social
service department, and the first time that any county county's
DSS has been taken over twice by the state. Birdie
County is in northeast North CA, Marolina, just north of
(19:01):
the Greenville area, relatively a remote area of the state,
but some concerning information. This morning, state officials said in
a press release that the actions follows months of intervention
and oversight, which were prompted by the December twenty twenty
four death of a child who had who had prior
involvement with the Birdie County Department of Social Services. The
(19:24):
release notes that after reviewing the facility and additional cases,
the Department of Health and Human Services at the state
level placed the local Department of Social Service board on
a corrective action plan that happened earlier this year in March,
due to quote serious concerns about its administration of child
welfare services. In in August, the fourteenth letter to county
(19:48):
leaders the Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health
and Human Services detailed multiple failures in local leadership to
follow state directives, manage a critic case appropriately, or present
to the court how their actions have contributed to the
ongoing safety risks for children. The letter also cited quote
(20:10):
serious concerns about the accuracy, integrity, and transparency of information
provided by staff at all levels of the organization. The
letter reads, in part, quote, the mismanagement of this case
and failure of the Birdie County Department of Social Services
to adhere to the directives of NCDHHS has magnified our
(20:32):
concerns about Birdie County's ability to adequately assess child safety
and risk. The conclusion of the letter notes this poses
a substantial threat to the safety and welfare of children
in Birdie County. According to the letter, effective upon a
state takeover, which again was last Friday, the county DSS
(20:53):
director will be stripped of all of service delivery powers
responsibilities related to child wealth there under North Carolina General Statue.
The press release also states that dhhs' staff will be
on site during the interim period to stabilize operations, manage services,
(21:13):
and develop a compliance plan for the local county office.
The Secretary of DHHS emphasized in the press release the
urgency of the intervention, saying quote, we take very seriously
our responsibility to ensure the safety and well being of
every child in North Carolina. By taking this urgent action,
(21:34):
we will work collaboratively with a Birdie County leadership to
strengthen the county's practice, delivery, and administration of child welfare services.
Birdie County leaders a voice support for the move, The
chair of the county's Board of Commission said in a
press release quote, we care greatly for the safety of
children and families in Birdie and across the state. We
(21:58):
are grateful for this war. The takeover is in fact
authorized under state law North Carolina General Statue oneh eight
a DASH seventy four, which allows the state to assume
direct control of a county's Department of Social Services operations
when local agencies failed to comply with child welfare laws
(22:18):
and policies. This is the second time that the state
has come in and taken over those local Department of
Social Services operations in Birdie County, and only the fifth
time in the history of the state since that has
been something entrined in state law and general statue. We've
got some additional details, including that full letter to officials
(22:39):
in Birdie County over on our website this morning, Carolina
Journal dot com. The headline on that story, State takes
control of Birdie County child Welfare Services after fatality, A
sad string of events up there. Those additional details available
over at Carolina Journal dot com, where it's now five
point forty one news TAC eleven ten ninety nine to
three WBT. Coming up later this year, municipal elections will
(23:06):
be taking place across the state of North Carolina. A
lot of local issues being discussed across the board. One
of those big discussions in conversations is about community safety
and community violence. Governor Josh Stein signing an executive order
this week of dealing with some violence that could exist
in communities across North Carolina. To walk us through some
of those details, Teresa Opeka, Carolina Journal dot Com joins
(23:29):
us on the news hour. Teresa, what are you following
with this new executive order from Josh Stein's office?
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Sure Neck, thanks for having me so yeah, so earlier
this week, as you mentioned, Governor Stein signed that executive order.
It creates a Gang Prevention and Intervention Task Force, and
it also continues the Office of Violence Prevention and that
was started by former Governor Roy Cooper in March of
twenty twenty three. And within that office, he also Governor
(23:59):
Stein rised dablish the Community Violence Advisory Board that actually
expired earlier this year, I believe in March. So you know,
Governor Steien says, to keep people safe, we need to
do everything we can to prevent violence from recurring in
the first place. And he said he's proud to advanced
these initiatives to seek out the root causes of violence,
and that includes gang violence. So as I just mentioned,
(24:22):
you know, Governor Cooper created that back in March, and
Stein also re established that office's advisory Board that's comprised
of health professionals, government leaders, law enforcement officers, and the like.
And that office what it does, It highlights initiatives to
strength firearms, strengthen firearms safety, expand cross sector partnerships across
(24:44):
the state, and also provides training and education to empower
local communities basically to address and prevent violence. Yeah, because
you know we've been doing stories on this. Gang violence
is definitely on the rise across North Carolina.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
Teresa, I mean, it all sounds good on paper. I
hear what you're saying here the comments there from the governor,
But if we look at the statistics and look at
the numbers we are seeing in certain crime areas and
in certain groups increases of nearly fifty percent over the
last five years while this entity was in place under
the previous governor. Again might sound good on paper, the
(25:21):
real question I'm sure many folks are asking is does
it actually have an impact?
Speaker 2 (25:26):
Right, we had, like you said and mentioned about those numbers,
we had stories from the last couple of years. Earlier
this year in the Raleigh area and might mispronounce it
trend de Aragra gang member was arrested in Raleigh. We
also had other similar arrests in the Charlotte area. As
you mentioned about municipal elections in particular Charlotte Mecklenburg County
(25:51):
has a few coming up in September, so that might
be of some note. So, yeah, this office was established
in twenty twenty three. You know, what are the ramifications?
What has truly happened over the last couple of years.
It seems like we've had more more gangs and more
violence come to the community, specifically the urban communities and
(26:15):
maybe Mecklenburg County, Charlotte and also raleg Wake County, certain
city centers, and we've also had you know, Democrat lawmakers,
not just in North Carolina, but across the US, you know,
going against these different policies, you know, border policies or
immigration bills we had here in North Carolina. Say no,
(26:36):
they they are. Maybe they're targeting different people. But when
you look at this, and you know President Trump getting elected,
people want safety in their communities. That that's that's one
of the number one issues on a lot of people's minds,
especially in urban areas. So getting back to the Cooper
administration and their office they created, I'm not sure how
(26:56):
well that really panned out over the last couple of years.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Yeah, And to highlight that point, of course, the big
discussion on going no pun intended in Washington, DC is
literally the District of Columbia and the President making some
changes there, using some executive authority to try and clean
up the streets in DC. In the executive order, Teresa,
the governor noted that there are approximately four thousand validated
gang members across the state. And I think an even
(27:21):
more alarming thing in the Governor's executive order youth gang activity,
with suspected juvenile gang crime increasing fifty percent. There's no
way you could look at that and say it's a
good statistic or number.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
No, No, I mean you're you're hearing news stories all
the time. You know, people teenagers maybe stealing cars or
finding guns, and it doesn't matter about gun laws. If
someone wants to find a gun, they're going to find
a gun or they find it, you know, maybe in
a family member's home or whatever the case is. But
(27:54):
there are a lot of youth that are now turning
to gangs, maybe for acceptance what exact reasoning is. But yeah,
that statistic is really really alarming. So you're hearing the
news reports all the time. So I mean, give the
governor some you know, some some you know credit that
he wants to keep the people safe, community safe, but uh,
(28:16):
it's a it's a wait and see approach of course.
Look again, this office was put into place a couple
of years ago. But yeah, those statistics are they're pretty
scary and and you know, also for for the youth
of the area, it's just another thing that is definitely
not helping them.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
I would imagine that this is probably going to be
a pretty major talking point in those municipal elections predominantly
in the larger metropolitan areas coming up later. On this year.
You can read more details about the Governor's executive order
some of those crime statistics that we are talking about
this morning over on our website, Carolina Journal dot com.
We appreciate the update. Teresa Opeka joins us on the
(28:52):
Carolina Journal News Hour. Good morning, Yea, and it's five
fifty two. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News our
newstock eleven ten ninety nine three WBT as we continue
our coverage of Hurricane Aaron and the impacts across North Carolina. Fortunately,
(29:12):
that storm not making a direct impact on the state
and the continuing its movement away from North Carolina this morning.
Highway twelve, which is one of the roadways we've been
talking about all week, does remain closed this morning as
cruise from the Department of North Carolina Department of Transportation.
We're on site yesterday afternoon and we'll continue on site
(29:33):
throughout the day today to check on the status. Tim Hass,
who is the communications officer for the Division one of NCDOT,
spoke to media yesterday. This is what he had to
say about some of the impacts from aarin out in
the Outer Banks.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
The worst that I saw today and remember I went
out on there about noon, which is about at extreme
low tide. But the worst that I saw was just
north of Hatteras Village, where the water came up basically
halfway up the hubcap of an NCDOT truck, So that
was pretty deep, and that was where the done breaches
were the worst. They are also very bad at the
(30:10):
north of Okracoke. Obviously I didn't make it there today,
but the dune breaches at the north end of Okracoke
are also fairly serious.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
Yeah, those doom breaches obviously will be a big time,
long term issue for portions of the outer banks. One
of the questions what needs to be done to get
Highway twelve reopen so the folks can begin returning to
their homes.
Speaker 4 (30:30):
We have seen no indication of any actual road damage
at this point, but there is road that's still covered
with sand and water, and until that is cleared, we
won't be able to make a final determination as to
whether there's any actual pavement.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
Damage, and of course that is going to be very relevant.
If there is no damage, crews just have to work
on pumping the water and sand off of the roadways
and then it should be able to reopen. If there
is any pavement damage, some permanent structure damage. Obviously, that
is going to be a longer term recovery, with some
probably temporary stop gaps put in place so that folks
(31:03):
can begin the process of returning to that area. Dare County,
which took the brunt of the storm, a state of
emergency issue there earlier this week. The county manager also
spoke it to media yesterday afternoon. This is what he
had to say.
Speaker 5 (31:17):
Well, we've prepared as a regular hurricane as we would
do anything else. We've got a large amount of water
over the road. Did have Dot has done a wonderful
job getting that cleaned up, but we've got another high
tie tonight. So tomorrow morning, when the sun's up and
we can see, then we can look at where we
are with the roadst get out there and move saying,
we'll find out what's going on and then we'll start
looking at what we do to begin the recovery and
(31:39):
to get people back on the island.
Speaker 1 (31:41):
That's Dare County Manager Bobby Outen yesterday speaking to media,
also talking about some other impacts from the storm as
well well.
Speaker 5 (31:50):
The breach of the doings is something that we would
have expected in that area, and the good news is
it looks like it was water and sand. We're hopeful
that it's not the pavement because the payment takes a
lot longer to repair to provide access. It's good news
bad news. There's about three places we could have that problem.
It was the southernmost place, and so that means that
(32:10):
northern areas are going to be able to move around
in quicker than maybe the southern area. But hopefully that
pavement's not breached, and if it's not, then DTL get
the water off, get the sand off. You just saw
a bunch of pumps go by. We sent pump trucks
down there to get that water off of the road
so they can work. And so we're hopeful to get
that stuff going in earnest tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
And so they're going to be working on that again
throughout the afternoon yesterday, and once daybreak hits the North
Carolina coast this morning, crews will be back out on
the scene beginning that process of clearing those roadways, doing
their assessments and surveys and making sure that it is
safe for folks to drive. Just looking at the NCDOT
website this morning, a drive at nc dot gov where
(32:51):
they provide some of this traffic information. It does indicate
that Highway twelve it could open as early as eight
am this morning. However, I'm of the mindset that is
just kind of a temporary stand by number. Cruise will
still continue the process of assessing some of the damage
in that area before they open it back up and
let folks drive in this area. This is near Hatteras.
(33:15):
Both directions of a Highway twelve do remain closed. They
closed back Wednesday ahead of some of the impacts of
Hurricane Erin. Doom breaches and other effects from the storm
will continue to be looked at in the coming days
and weeks, and then, of course with some of those
dunes getting the corp of engineers and other folks on
board to begin the process of repairing and recovering those
(33:38):
It is still the middle of the Atlantic hurricane season.
All eyes do remain on the tropics, as there are
a couple of other areas that the National Hurricane Center
is investigating. This morning, we'll keep you up to date
with any North Carolina impact and recovery from Hurricane Erin
right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour. That's going
to do it for a Friday edition at WBT News
(34:00):
is next, followed by Good Morning BT. We're back with
you Monday morning, five to six right here on Newstalk eleven,
ten and ninety nine three WBT
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