Flood Zone

Connection is our primary survival response, especially during threats like hurricanes. The podcast "Flood Zone," produced and hosted by Akshay Gokul, explores the role of community in building resilience in coastal Carolina communities. The episode features insights from J'vanete Skiba, director of the New Hanover County Resiliency Task Force, and Mebane Boyd, Resilient Communities...

Want to vote early in coastal North Carolina? Here's how. ¿ Quieres votar temprano en la costa de Carolina del Norte? Escucha este anuncio.  Support the show

Ellis Jones had a good job and good life in Raleigh in 1974. He didn’t want to move to the coast. Reluctantly, he drove into Morehead City on a highway 70 shadowed by trees “shaped by nature, and the hurricanes, and the salt… and the fellowship that people have here? It’s incredible.” Jones speaks to what he’s learned from locals as he’s spent 40 years in Morehead City. Flood Zone is a special inv...

Ethel Hill is a lifetime member of St. Stephen’s AME Zion Church in Morehead City. "I grew up in Morehead City, went away, came back, and I'm still here. So, I love my church.” When Hurricane Florence approached the coast in 2018, Ethel and seven family members decided to ride out the storm in their family’s church – rather than in homes much closer to the water. They couldn’t predict th...

It’s been nearly two years since Hurricane Florence’s winds devastated homes in North River, a small coastal community in Carteret County, NC. But Yvonne Pittaway still isn’t home.  “Two rooms – if I can get two rooms repaired, I’m going back home.”  Pittaway has been staying with her sister in Morehead City. There, as Pittaway sees federal hurricane relief dollars being put to beach renourishment...

Angela Lewis is the first lady to Spring Garden Missionary Baptist Church in Washington, NC. She speaks to how people would be surprised to know that locals in Washington are not just still recovering from Hurricane Florence in 2018 – many are still recovering from Hurricane Matthew in 2016. And some families will never financially recover. She notices that her church’s predominantly African Ameri...

The speed of hurricane recovery efforts is pernicious, says Matthew Reddick of Washington, NC. If he had one word to describe how hurricane recovery functioned in his hometown – he would choose ‘slow.’ “Slow to react, slow to get something done.” In a context when folks are out of their homes, and Reddick sees the need is there, he begs the question – why is slow acceptable? Flood Zone is a specia...

Beverly Johnson's family bought land by the river in Trenton, NC early in the 20th century. Land ownership options then were limited for African Americans families. Inheriting land in a flood zone was not Johnson's choice, but she does see many white families in Trenton these days choosing to buy waterfront property.  Flood Zone is a special investigation reporting on flooding in Coastal...

“I can only imagine what my parents had to go through for that land.” Gwendolyn Brown grew up in Back Street, a long-time African American community in Trenton, NC. When you enter the neighborhood, you pull off of ‘Backstreet Road’, go down a gravel hill, and enter what Brown calls ‘a bowl.’ She is familiar with the topography, because with every storm, her neighborhood floods. Due to flooding, Br...

Willie Johnson has been driving 30 minutes from his hometown in New Bern, NC to the more rural area of Trenton, NC for nine years. His congregation is there – in a church located within ‘the bowl’ of Back Street. Many of his parishioners have weathered all of North Carolina’s storms. And geographically, African American communities within Trenton have often received the most damage. But most of th...

“I’m not against integration, but I think people are being cheated out of their homes.” Her mother’s home was condemned. Then her uncle’s. Ophelia Chambers’ family homestead has been in the same location off of Bridges Street for three generations. In the wake of Hurricane Florence, her traditionally African American neighborhood has seen an influx of white residents. And Chambers is noticing a pa...

Dallas White-Wells can remember when the young people in Morehead City always had something to do. “Now it’s mostly for retirees and beach people.” White-Wells was born on Bay Street in Morehead City, NC. She lived in this almost entirely African American part of town by Calico Creek until she was 18. Later in her adult life, White-Wells return to live on Bay Street. Now the community around her s...

"I think the shrimp are confused just as much as the people are." Melvin Dunn is a shrimper from North River– a small, coastal community in Carteret County, NC. His father was a commercial fisherman, and his father before him. But climate change is making Dunn consider leaving his days on the water behind him. Dunn explains why he is looking to seafood distribution instead. Flood Zone is...

Helen Barrett drove school buses in New Bern, NC for 25 years. In early adulthood, she saw the fire of 1922 change the landscape of her city – pushing African Americans from downtown. Now she's seeing the same zoning patterns in the wake of Hurricane Florence. Flood Zone is a special investigation reporting on flooding in Coastal Carolina communities. The podcast is a special project of Shore...

Helen Barrett from Episode 3 shares a poem she wrote about sharing a birthday with Hurricane Florence. Two years since her house flooded with three feet of water, Barrett is still not in her home. Flood Zone is a special investigation reporting on flooding in Coastal Carolina communities. The podcast is a project of Shoresides and Working Narratives. Help keep community stories alive at the coast....

Fanny Irving has lived in Trenton all of her life. She lives in the home that from 1971 - 1975 she built with her late husband. First Floyd, and now Florence, have taken that home from her.  Flood Zone is a special investigation reporting on flooding in Coastal Carolina communities. The podcast is a special project of Shoresides and Working Narratives. Help keep community stories alive at the coas...

Eric Brown is from Back Street, a once thriving African American community named for being the opposite to downtown in Trenton, NC. Back Street has nearly been wiped out from repeated hurricane flooding. Brown built a second home to run from the water, but what will become of his family's homestead? Flood Zone is a special investigation reporting on flooding in Coastal Carolina communities. T...