Hurricane Matthew: City of Goldsboro response
By Rochelle Moore
Published in News on October 5, 2016 1:56 PM
Goldsboro street crews worked throughout the day Sunday and continued through Monday clearing trees and other debris from city streets.
The core of the work involved removing trees from major thoroughfares first before trees and limbs were moved off of city roads.
Two areas in the city remain a concern, along Royall Avenue and a section of Elm Street. An area along Royall Avenue, from Jefferson Street to Landmark Drive, was coned off Sunday after a 100-foot section of the road washed out.
Motorists continued to drive around cones and through the damage area, which resulted in two motorists having to be rescued Sunday, Rick Fletcher, Public Works deputy director.
City crews eventually set up concrete barricades to block access.
"Royall is missing," said Jose Martinez, Goldsboro public works director. "It's not just flooded, it's gone. The main thing is, please, for the citizen's safety, if a road is closed, take five minutes and go the long way."
A section of Elm Street, from Fieldcrest Drive to South Randolph Street, is flooded and there is concern that the roadway may also be washed out, said Chad Lemasters, city superintendent of the streets and stormwater division.
Crews were on at work by 6 a.m. today and will continue clearing streets before the debris is hauled away, Fletcher said.
"The main thoroughfares are open," Fletcher said. "When we get the roads passable, we'll go back and haul it off."
The biggest concern for city crews are trees that are tangled by Duke Energy electric lines. Duke workers will need to remove the trees from the power lines before city workers can haul off tree trunks and limbs, Lemasters said.
By late Sunday, a decision was made to open two Red Cross shelters, by 5 p.m., at Carver Heights Elementary School and the Old Train Depot in Mount Olive, said Debra Jones, director of the county Department of Social Services.
Dozens of people started lining up at the school shortly after 5 p.m. for an overnight stay.
"I'm thinking we might need to be here overnight," said Lisa Copes, who left her John Street townhouse, where flooding reached the doorstep. "I'd just rather be safe in a shelter than be flooded out at home."
The shelters opened after voluntary evacuations were issued for residents living in low-lying areas near the Neuse River. River conditions are predicted to reach record-flooding levels, with the river cresting Tuesday to 29 feet, according to the National Weather Service.
Doris Holloman, 79, who lives in a single wide mobile home in Seven Springs, decided early Sunday to leave after spending the night weathering out the storm.
"We got flooded out," she said. "I just walked out with a change of clothes and left everything."
Holloman spent the day at a Red Cross shelter, at Carver Elementary School, before it was shut down due to the loss of electricity. She, along with other residents, were sent to Carver Heights Elementary, on Bunchie Drive. Holloman could spend days in the shelter, without any plan to return home until the floodwaters recede.
"I just hope that my trailer is there when I get back," she said. "I hope it's OK. It's high enough that it should be OK."