Harmful Slowness

Want to vote early in coastal North Carolina? Here's how.

¿Quieres votar temprano en la costa de Carolina del Norte? Escucha este anuncio. 

Ethel Hill is a lifetime member of St. Stephen’s AME Zion Church in Morehead City. "I grew up in Morehead City, went away, came back, and I'm still here. So, I love my church.” When Hurricane Florence approached the coast in 2018, Ethel and seven family members decided to ride out the storm in their family’s church – rather than in homes much closer to the water. They couldn’t predict the story that would unfold. During the height of the storm, the church began to break down around them.

Flood Zone is a special investigation reporting on flooding in Coastal Carolina communities. The podcast is a project of Shoresides and Working Narratives.

Ellis Jones had a good job and good life in Raleigh in 1974. He didn’t want to move to the coast. Reluctantly, he drove into Morehead City on a highway 70 shadowed by trees “shaped by nature, and the hurricanes, and the salt… and the fellowship that people have here? It’s incredible.” Jones speaks to what he’s learned from locals as he’s spent 40 years in Morehead City.

Flood Zone is a special investigation reporting on flooding in Coastal Carolina communities. The podcast is a project of Shoresides and Working Narratives.

The speed of hurricane recovery efforts is pernicious, says Matthew Reddick of Washington, NC. If he had one word to describe how hurricane recovery functioned in his hometown – he would choose ‘slow.’ “Slow to react, slow to get something done.” In a context when folks are out of their homes, and Reddick sees the need is there, he begs the question – why is slow acceptable?

Flood Zone is a special investigation reporting on flooding in Coastal Carolina communities. The podcast is a project of Shoresides and Working Narratives.

Angela Lewis is the first lady to Spring Garden Missionary Baptist Church in Washington, NC. She speaks to how people would be surprised to know that locals in Washington are not just still recovering from Hurricane Florence in 2018 – many are still recovering from Hurricane Matthew in 2016. And some families will never financially recover. She notices that her church’s predominantly African American section of town is hit especially hard by the storms. For Lewis, she just tries to help families get to their next step.

Flood Zone is a special investigation reporting on flooding in Coastal Carolina communities. The podcast is a project of Shoresides and Working Narratives.

It’s been nearly two years since Hurricane Florence’s winds devastated homes in North River, a small coastal community in Carteret County, NC. But Yvonne Pittaway still isn’t home.  “Two rooms – if I can get two rooms repaired, I’m going back home.” 

Pittaway has been staying with her sister in Morehead City. There, as Pittaway sees federal hurricane relief dollars being put to beach renourishment and commercial building repair – she wonders, where is the help for herself and North River?

Flood Zone is a special investigation reporting on flooding in Coastal Carolina communities. The podcast is a project of Shoresides and Working Narratives.

"I think the shrimp are confused just as much as the people are." Melvin Dunn is a shrimper from North River– a small, coastal community in Carteret County, NC. His father was a commercial fisherman, and his father before him. But climate change is making Dunn consider leaving his days on the water behind him. Dunn explains why he is looking to seafood distribution instead.

Flood Zone is a special investigation reporting on flooding in Coastal Carolina communities. The podcast is a project of Shoresides and Working Narratives.

Dallas White-Wells can remember when the young people in Morehead City always had something to do. “Now it’s mostly for retirees and beach people.” White-Wells was born on Bay Street in Morehead City, NC. She lived in this almost entirely African American part of town by Calico Creek until she was 18. Later in her adult life, White-Wells return to live on Bay Street. Now the community around her street has seen an influx of white residents, and with it, a change in its relationship to Calico Creek.

Flood Zone is a special investigation reporting on flooding in Coastal Carolina communities. The podcast is a project of Shoresides and Working Narratives.

“I’m not against integration, but I think people are being cheated out of their homes.” Her mother’s home was condemned. Then her uncle’s. Ophelia Chambers’ family homestead has been in the same location off of Bridges Street for three generations. In the wake of Hurricane Florence, her traditionally African American neighborhood has seen an influx of white residents. And Chambers is noticing a pattern.

Flood Zone is a special investigation reporting on flooding in Coastal Carolina communities. The podcast is a project of Shoresides and Working Narratives.

Willie Johnson has been driving 30 minutes from his hometown in New Bern, NC to the more rural area of Trenton, NC for nine years. His congregation is there – in a church located within ‘the bowl’ of Back Street. Many of his parishioners have weathered all of North Carolina’s storms. And geographically, African American communities within Trenton have often received the most damage. But most of the county’s relief funding decision-makers are white. Johnson has seen the situation become increasingly dire.

Flood Zone is a special investigation reporting on flooding in Coastal Carolina communities. The podcast is a project of Shoresides and Working Narratives.