As President Trump visits North Carolina, where thousands are evacuating after Hurricane Florence caused record flooding, we go to Raleigh to speak with Rev. Dr. William Barber, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign. Areas devastated by the storm include some of the poorest areas on the Eastern Seaboard. Barber’s recent CNN piece is headlined “In hurricane wind and waves, the poor suffer most.”
Transcript
AMY GOODMAN: Well, I wanted to turn right now, Reverend Barber, to what you’re dealing with in North Carolina, to look at how thousands continue to evacuate North Carolina in the wake of Hurricane Florence, now a tropical depression, which has caused record flooding since it made landfall five days ago. President Trump is expected to visit your state, is going to North and South Carolina today. The death toll from the storm has risen to at least 35, including three young children, and in—as well, in South Carolina, two women detainees drowned in a sheriff’s van. More than 10,000 people have already fled to shelters. Nearly 400,000 are without power in North Carolina.
On Tuesday, Governor Roy Cooper said 16 rivers were at major flood stage, and three more rivers could peak in coming days. Massive industrial coal ash landfills and pig and chicken farms have also been engulfed by the floodwaters, and millions of chickens and pigs have drowned. The Associated Press reports at least 45 active farms are located in the floodplain. Crystal Coast Waterkeeper Larry Baldwin flew over eastern North Carolina and described the damage to hog and chicken farms.
LARRY BALDWIN: We did see a couple facilities today that were already in serious trouble. They were surrounded by water. Their lagoons were surrounded by water. Their spray fields were completely covered up. The situation is not good. But it’s not good today, but it’s likely to get much worse throughout the rest of the week as these waters start to get to their flood levels.