Story by Emma Hall
TRACK 1
There aren’t a lot of bipartisan issues in North Carolina… but flood resiliency is one of them. Earlier this year… there were massive storms across the state causing major flooding. UNC-Chapel Hill senior Aubri Bishop was at home.
SOT 1 :04
Lower: Aubri Bishop/UNC Senior
“It’s actively coming through the electrical ports, it’s coming through the windows”
SOT 2 :05
“We were using like quilts, bedspreads, sheets, towels, every large article of cloth that we had”
SOT 3 :06
“I had to call out of work the next day becauss it was still very flooded down there.”
TRACK 2
As a college student, flooding wasn’t her biggest concern since she’s moving out soon. However, she said she would be much more worried if she were a permanent Chapel Hill resident.
SOT 4 :05
“If this was my house, I would definitely be worried about …the long term consequences.”
TRACK 3
Because of ongoing Flooding issues l the North Carolina General Assmebly invested in a flood resiliency program called StRAP. Program Manager Matt Safford said the program has worked with more than 100 local grantees and organizations to complete flood reduction projects, such as debris removal and watershed structure repairs.
SOT 5 :09
Lower: Matt Safford/Program Manager
“I know the term unprecedented is thrown around a lot, but we really do have kind of an unprecedented amount of money that’s become available right now to put to use.”
SOT 6 :06
“We have had 38 million to allocate our total requests for funds is worth 311 million.”
TRACK 4
About 60 thousand has been distributed to three projects in Orange County.
SOT 7 :09
“We work with the grantees and evaluate, you know, what’s, what needs the funding the most, where can we do the most good with what we have available.”
TRACK 5
The General Assembly also created the N.C. Collaboratory in 2016 to collect data on environmental issues in the state. UNC junior Rose Houck is a flood resiliency researcher for the Collaboratory.
SOT 8 :08
Lower: Rose Houck/N.C. Collaboratory Researcher
“The research is understanding what sort of mitigation we should be investing in and what would be best for the future of the state.”
SOT 9 :09
“It was becoming apparent to me that like the effects of a flooding event are so cascading, it’s just one issue that creates another issue and so on.”
Standup :19
Lower: Emma Hall/Media Hub Reporter
Nat sound: *stomping*
“Impervious surfaces like parking lots and roads as well as debris in streams and outdated stormwater management systems are all reasons why flooding has become an increasingly important issue in North Carolina. It’s an issue that is not politically affliliated because it affects us all.”
SOT 10 :16
“Bringing in all different types of people, from scientists to locals to residential people experiencing the impacts of flooding…luckily, we’ve been seeing a lot of great collaboration and it gives me a lot of hope for the future of what is going on now.”
TRACK 6
I’m Emma Hall, reporting.
