After hurricane, chaos lingers in water-logged North Carolina

From left, truck driver Eugene Coleman, Wilton Suggs and Jeremy Suggs transport containers of diesel fuel in a flat-bottom boat to a stranded semi tractor trailer truck laden with produce from FEMA thorough floodwaters caused by rain from Hurricane Matthew on NC Highway 41 West at the Bladen and Robeson County line outside of Lumberton, N.C., Monday, Oct. 10, 2016. The trio is planning to add fuel to keep the produce from spoiling.

By Associated Press October 10, 2016 5 min read

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LUMBERTON, N.C. – With floodwaters from Hurricane Matthew on the rise, at least one North Carolina city appeared near chaos Monday, its police station shuttered and sporadic gunfire in the air, and authorities worried that more communities could end up the same way.

The storm is gone, but it left behind a water-logged landscape where flooding was expected to persist for the rest of the week. At least three rivers were forecast to reach record levels, some not cresting until Friday. In many areas, the scene resembled a repeat of Hurricane Floyd, which caused $3 billion in damage and destroyed 7,000 homes as it skirted the coast in 1999.

Officials were concerned that other cities could suffer the fate of Lumberton, a community of 22,000 people about 80 miles from the ocean.

The Rev. Volley Hanson worried that stress from the lack of running water and electricity might push people over the edge. Robeson County, which includes Lumberton, had North Carolina’s highest violent crime rate in 2014.

“The cash is going to be running out. We’ve already got street vendors hawking water, Cokes and cigarettes. Cigarettes are at seven bucks a pack,” Hanson said. “It’s nuts here, and it’s going to get worse.”