It seems callous and uncaring to recount our local dislocations and problems when 18 of our fellow Tar Heels have died during Hurricane Matthew’s onslaught and aftermath. But we do need information about our small difficulties while we send money to the Red Cross and other agencies or go in person to help where we can.
There were power outages and roads closed because of high water, but the most damage was to Rogers Road where a section of pavement was washed out. That road may remain closed as long as six weeks, officials from the state Department of Transportation have told town officials. A minor casualty is one of the trees in the pecan grove at E. Carroll Joyner Park which was leaning, about to topple, until it was removed Tuesday because of fears it would fall and injure someone.
The good news from Rogers Road is that the bridge reconstruction over Smith Creek did not suffer any serious problems from the storm. The bridge remains on schedule to be completed in early November.
One very dangerous situation was resolved by a swift-water rescue team from the Wake Forest Fire Department. Some kids thought it would be fun to raft down swollen Richland Creek, Police Chief Jeff Leonard said, but the raft overturned before the bridge on West Oak Avenue near Joyner Park. Two of the children or teens – Leonard was unsure of their ages and did not know their names – were able to swim or scramble onto a bank, but two were left holding onto trees in the creek. The fire department crew was able to use ropes and a raft to rescue the two, Leonard said. Fire Chief Ron Early did not return calls or emails to fill in the details of the rescue.
There were “a ton of road closures” during the storm Saturday, Leonard said. Those were on Purnell and Jenkins roads where Horse Creek overflowed, on a street in the St. Andrews subdivision, and Ligon Mill Road near Whippoorwill subdivision where Smith Creek overtook the road. Smith Creek also completely flooded the Smith Creek Soccer Center, which was built on a flood plain, but never got high enough to go over Heritage Lake Road next to the center. On Durham Road, Richland Creek came with a couple of feet of flooding over the road next to Paschal Golf Course.
Wake Electric, which has about 8,100 customers inside the town limits, had 3,255 members who had no electricity at some time during the storm, Angela Perez, the director of communications and public relations, reported. “Wake Electric had nearly 12,500 of our 41,000 meters out at some point during the storm (30.5 percent).” Fifteen of the cooperative’s substations were impacted at some point Saturday and Sunday.
“Calls started coming in from our meters and from members by 10 a.m. on Saturday,” Perez reported. “Some outages did not start until more trees fell on Sunday. Everyone that we were aware of that could be repaired were finished in the early morning hours on Monday, Oct. 1. The vast majority of our members were out less than 24 hours.”
Perez also said, “Our damage was caused by falling trees and not flooding. We were able to access the areas without power (some roads were closed and we had to find alternate routes). We were able to make all of the repairs with our employees and with the contractors who work on our system on a daily basis. Before daybreak on Monday morning Wake Electric sent men to Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative to assist in their restoration efforts. We released most of the contract linemen and right-of-way workers Monday morning to assist others in repairing damage.”
“We had four main outages,” Public Works Director Mike Barton reported Monday for Wake Forest Power, and there were street closures because of flooding “but all were back open by late Saturday evening. Now we’re working on picking up all the tree debris from residents.” Wake Forest Power has about 6,100 customers.
Those outages were:
— along Durham Road between South Wingate and McDonald’s restaurant because tree limbs caused five fuses to blow
— on Circuit 2 from the John B. Cole Substation because a large oak tree was blown down onto a three-phase line next to the Lidl site on South Main and the N.C. 98 Bypass. Barton explained there was no line damage but a crew had to cut the tree free of the lines.
— in the South Forest Business Park a tree fell on the line and was in the right-of-way and again a crew had to cut the tree free of the lines
— on Wait Avenue because tree limbs “caused a recloser to open on Caddell Street.”
The town is suspending the annual loose leaf collection using a vacuum truck and instead crews are focusing on collecting the limbs, leaves and sawn-up sections of tree trunks homeowners are finding in their yards. Town officials say it will take several weeks to collect it all from neighborhoods and subdivisions across the town.
In addition, the town is suspending indefinitely the amount of yard waste homeowners can leave at the curb. Usually that limit is four cubic yards per week, about a pickup truck load, but the town is waiving that restriction for the foreseeable future.
Residents are asked to follow these guidelines:
- Place yard waste within six feet of the curb and at least four feet away from other collection items (including other yard waste) and obstacles such as mailboxes, phone poles and vehicles, etc.;
- Do not block the sidewalk;
- Keep yard waste free of trash and other refuse;
- Logs must not exceed 75 lbs.;
- Place your yard waste in front of your residence separate from your neighbors’.
Also, contracted work performed by tree service companies or independent contractors will not be collected by town crews. Instead, it is the responsibility of the contractor to remove and properly dispose of debris.
