Governor visits relief center for flood victims in Burgaw

BURGAW, NC (WWAY) — Governor Pat McCrory made a stop at a hurricane relief center in Burgaw today while back in the Cape Fear getting a first hand look at the recovery process in our region after Hurricane Matthew.

“We’re finally getting into the recovery stage,” said McCrory.

McCrory said almost all power and water systems are back in place and with water levels receding in most areas, that is good news moving forward. But he warns that the road ahead is still a long one.

“A lot of people are going to be suffering for a long time and we’ve got to do everything we can to get them back on their feet,” McCrory said.

For now, a top priority is getting those who still remain in shelters into more stable and permanent housing.

“Many of the towns of 500 to 2,000 people don’t have hotels that we can immediately move them to, and some of the hotels were flooded,” Mccrory said.

He said a lot of the areas that were hit the worst were poor areas that cannot afford the losses they sustained.

“Well this week I’ll be announcing, during the next several days, we’re going to have a long term recovery group working on and helping those people that can least afford this hurricane impacting them,” McCrory said.

He said during this recovery process his team will look at ways to improve infrastructure to prevent flooding like this in the future. Some of their plans might surprise you.

“We’re going to look at the whole beaver dam population. Because apparently in the swamps behind these cities, it didn’t allow the water to flow,” McCrory said.

He adds that they way communities have come together through all of this is what represents the absolute best qualities of North Carolina.

If you would still like to help out, Reverend Ted Mercer at gateway Community Church said the items they need most right now are things like underwear, socks, rubber boots, and cleaning supplies.