COLUMBUS — Governor Roy Cooper read the reports.
The words and pictures described devastation across western North
Carolina from storm damage attributed to Alberto and other storms that dumped
more than 20 inches of rain in May.
He saw some of damage for himself on Thursday.
Cooper visited Polk, Rutherford and McDowell counties with Director
of Emergency Management Michael Sprayberry to examine the damage to homes,
businesses as well as the damage to highways and roads maintained by the N.C.
Department of Transportation
“Clearly, a lot of people are suffering,” Cooper said while
standing on U.S. 176 in Polk County. “It’s clear there is a lot of work that
needs to be done here.
“I want to commend the emergency responders and law enforcement,
particularily the Department of Transportation which is working so hard to get
the roads opens.”
Cooper began his visit in Columbus then drove to U.S. 176 where
three people died in May. He also visited secondary roads to see the remnants of
mud covering everything, where trees were uprooted and other damage associated
with the storms.
Cooper next visited Chimney Rock and saw an area of U.S. 64/74A
that had been closed due to a landslide and re-opened on June 4. The trip
concluded on Orchard Road in Old Fort a he saw how the Catawba River obliterated
a four-pipe culvert and 100 yards of the road.
“One of the priorities is to get structures repaired,” Cooper said
in Old Fort. “There is a lot of work that needs to be done, and a lot of people
are working hard and we have to keep pushing.”
Contact: David Uchiyama
duchiyama@ncdot.gov
(828)
251-6171