Emergency Response to Hurricane Florence

The impacts from Florence are worsening as it brings catastrophic flooding in the eastern areas of North Carolina. Dozens and dozens of roads are closed and many towns are now completely inaccessible due to the life-threatening floods.

International Medical Corps is working with local EMS authorities to reach the cut-off communities and access potential routes to provide urgently needed support. Burgaw in Pender County – a county of approximately 65,000 residents and 30 miles north of Wilmington, North Carolina –  is one of the many currently inaccessible towns in need of life-saving assistance. As of September 16, the town has not been able to receive any medical support, the hospital has been evacuated and there have been some 300 swift water rescues within the area, with more expected.

Havelock, south of New Bern in North Carolina, is also in need of support. The current shelter is exceeding its capacity of 200. In one night alone, the city rescued 150 people from the flood waters, while power, water and waste management systems were down as of September 15. 

Our emergency advance team is working with state authorities to reach one of the many towns cut-off from care and in critical need of assistance, such as Burgaw or Havelock. We are deploying a shelter medical team – a team made up of a lead, physician, and registered nurses – to provide health services. We continue to work with partners on the ground to deploy mobile medical units and supplies, and plan to coordinate with the network of federally qualified clinics that serve low-income communities to determine how to best support them.

Regarding the current situation, our U.S. Emergency Response Lead, Trevor Rhodes, states, “when people are cut off from their normal access to care due to the damage to the environment, the subsequent health complications that arise on day 2, 3, 4, 7, are the ones that are typically unprepared for and cause the greatest amount of harm.” Hear more at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk1bg018i0c&feature=youtu.be. 

We are also increasingly concerned about the affected populations’ livelihoods as miles of crops are completely flooded and destroyed. North Carolina is a major supplier for soybeans, corn and more, raising alarms for both farmers and the overall status for agriculture in the areas.

Given the dynamic and ever-changing situation on the ground, our teams are remaining flexible to provide support wherever it’s needed most, prioritizing communities that have not yet received assistance.

We thank you and the GlobalGiving community for your support as our team works to deliver critical health and related services, as well as urgently needed supplies to families and communities affected by this slow motion disaster.