The town awarded a contract Friday to a Tallahassee, Fla., company for the debris cleanup, which will cost an estimated $600,000, according to Tim Allen, streets and solid waste supervisor for the town. He said the town had difficulty finding a contractor because so many companies are working in Florida, which has been hit by four hurricanes this year.
The tornado, spawned Monday by the remnants of Hurricane Jeanne, caused more vegetative debris (tree stumps, logs and branches) than Hurricane Fran left behind in 1996 and the ice storm of 2002.
In addition to that debris, there are about 1,000 cubic yards of construction debris, which includes bricks, masonry and wood.
The cleanup is continuing, as the town attempts to get back to normal.
It may be a long time before things are completely normal for the 30 or so people that the tornado displaced. They have been staying in local hotels with help from the American Red Cross.
Joan Poole, executive director of the Moore County chapter of the Red Cross, said she had appointments all day Friday with the people who have had to stay in hotel rooms since the tornado struck. Most of the people still staying in hotels are waiting for damage to their homes to be repaired or the electricity to be restored. A few people saw their homes completely destroyed by the tornado.
The key now is to figure out how to help these people for the long term, Poole said.
“We’re meeting with people to try to see if we can get a long-term plan,” she said. “We can refer them to where they need to go to get additional help.”
The Red Cross has been trying to go door to door to offer assistance to anyone with tornado damage, but Poole said that it’s always possible that they missed someone. If people have any questions about assistance, she said, they should call the Red Cross office in Southern Pines 692-8571.
There is still a lot of debris in the way that is preventing any major rebuilding. But as the debris is cleared, the process can begin.
David White, director of recreation and parks and buildings and grounds for the town, is spearheading the Tornado Home Repair Task Force that is made up of a combination of Habitat for Humanity and the Moore County Housing Partnership.
The task force is raising money through a fund set up at the local branch of Crescent State Bank to help people who lack insurance. So far, three homeowners who are uninsured have called requesting assistance. Two other homeowners who don’t know whether they are insured have called.
“We’ll need to further investigate that,” White said.
But so far, the task force has yet to go into action repairing a damaged home.
“We’re still gathering data on individuals,” he said. “We’re getting back to the homeowners who do not have insurance. Then there is money to be collected. We have to have funds to buy the materials.”
It appears that the vast majority of people affected by the tornado have some form of insurance, said Southern Pines Fire Chief Rick Baker.
The task force worried that it might have between 20 to 50 homes to repair. West Southern Pines — one of the more economically depressed areas of town — was the hardest hit.
White thinks that there is a good chance some people have not had time to call the task force. They’ve been dealing with tree cleanup and trying to do superficial repairs.
“Some people may or may not have had a chance to call in yet,” he said. “The time frame is still there. … We’ll see where we’re at.”
As for the Fire Department, Baker said, it is “trying to get back to normal.” There are a ton of administrative duties to take care of, but because of the difficult week, the department has been ignoring them.
“I’ve been in my office for one hour since Monday night,” Baker said.
The Fire Department has been Southern Pines’ nerve center since Monday night. There Baker, Police Chief Gerald Galloway (who is also interim town manager), Moore County Public Safety Director Steady Meares and many others have been coordinating the recovery effort.
There aren’t any estimates in as to the total number of pine trees lost, but it is certain to be in the hundreds and possibly the thousands. Many of the trees were the larger, older pines not capable of bending and swaying with the powerful winds.
The F1 tornado first struck the Southern Pines Country Club as it cut a four-mile swath through Southern Pines and Pinehurst, dropping trees on homes and golf courses. The damage extended out to Eastwood. From there, the tornado sheered off the tops of trees for another four miles as it skipped out of the county.
Though those trees are lost, there are already signs of new growth.
On the day after the tornado struck, Constance Tidwell drove her 4-year-old daughter, Cassie, to Episcopal Day School in Southern Pines. As they were driving through the destruction in slow-moving traffic caused by people looking at the damage, Cassie would see a downed tree and say, “Poor tree, poor tree,” her mother said. She was especially struck by the scene at Bank of America on Morganton Road where a large stately pine was lying in the parking lot.
Her mother told her that many buildings were damaged too.
“You can fix a house,” her daughter said. “You can’t fix a tree.”
Constance later told a co-worker about it, and the co-worker was so touched that she gave Cassie a present, a sapling.
Constance took her daughter and the sapling to Bank of America where she gave it to Branch Manager Sheila Myrick.
“She was just as cute as a button,” Myrick said.
It will be planted as soon as what’s left of the old pine can be cleared.
