Bladen County officials announce the Kelly Dike Rehabilitation Project

BLADEN COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — More than seven years after two hurricanes breached a dike in Bladen County, residents of a small community now have hope for repairs. 

On Tuesday, county leaders announced the Kelly Dike Rehabilitation Project at the Bladen County Courthouse. 

 The small town of Kelly was ravaged by floodwaters when the dike protecting it from the Cape Fear River was damaged by Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and breached by Hurricane Florence in 2018.  

But with a population of less than 500 people, Commissioner Charles Ray Peterson notes it’s been a challenge to secure funding for a restoration project estimated to cost more than $30 million. 

“We were reaching for everything there was to reach for,” he explained. 

Enter the Innovative Readiness Training Program. The Department of Defense program gives on the job training while fulfilling a community need. 

“Oftentimes on big Marine Corps exercises, you may dig a hole a fill it in, but out here you’re actually able to accomplish a real project to real specifications designed by engineers. So, immense amount of training value,” Chief Warrant Officer 3 Collin Craig explained. 

Craig adds it also bolsters job satisfaction knowing your work will benefit people in the community. 

Danny Squires has lived in Kelly his entire life. He hopes the news will encourage other natives to return home.  

“Like I had family members that moved away because of this because of this because they weren’t sure how the dike was going to be, if it was going to ever be fixed again and I’m hoping some of them would actually move back,” Squires said. 

Squires adds it’s a relief to know his hometown won’t be going anywhere. 

“If you’ve lived there your whole life and you’ve worked your whole life to build something there, your family’s there, my great granddaddy, my granddaddy, my dad is all buried down from me and ill probably be there buried one day too,” he said. “So, to see this built, knowing that the community’s going to be okay now is awesome.” 

Representatives with the DOD say the project will start in early July and take roughly five years to complete.