Rebuilding Pamlico County

Photo: Brethren Disaster Ministries

To be inundated is typically not a good thing: the word carries a sense of too much. Water, a necessity for life, can at times be soothing, as a gently moving river or a placid sea reflecting blue skies above. Yet it also has the power to overwhelm, as when that same river overflows its banks or when an ocean surge is pushed before a storm. Too much water can inundate a riverbed, a floodplain, a surrounding community.

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This is what happened in September 2018 as Hurricane Florence dropped record amounts of rainfall across North and South Carolina. Pamlico County, North Carolina, was among many places where a combination of storm surge and swollen rivers led to widespread flooding. Compounded by significant wind damage across the county, the devastation was severe. More than 40% of homes sustained significant damage, along with businesses and infrastructure. 

In the midst of this chaos, the staff at Camp Caroline began helping neighbors and inviting Disciples in North Carolina to join their response. A ministry of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in North Carolina located in Pamlico County, Camp Caroline’s staff did what seemed natural: through existing relationships, they began to identify needs and solicit help. This process and partnership continued as they connected with Week of Compassion and Disciples Volunteering. 

While their early response was unfolding, Pamlico County Disaster Recovery Coalition (PCDRC) was formed to offer a centralized organization for countywide recovery. Week of Compassion extended an operational grant to facilitate recovery coordination, and the deepening relationship soon brought other partners to the response through the Disaster Recovery Support Initiative. 

A second Week of Compassion grant provided a 10% match necessary for PCDRC to obtain significant funds from a local foundation. The funds from Week of Compassion not only directly provided for repairs of eight households, but also provided access to funding for muck-out or repair for an additional eighty homes.

The cooperative relationship between Week of Compassion, Disciples Volunteering, and PCDRC enabled them to apply together and receive two additional grants, this time from Lowe’s via National VOAD. Camp Caroline has hosted mission groups throughout the recovery, even as the collaborative adapted to provide safe services in light of COVID-19, helping the PCDRC make the most of their available funds. 

Where storms rage, oceans surge, and rivers flood, the inundating power of these combined forces can be devastating. To counter such forces in recovery requires a similar, cumulative response. Through generosity, service, and prayer, love flows beyond the banks in Pamlico County, surging into places of need. Because of your gifts to Week of Compassion, love flows. Love, of which there can never be too much, now inundates devastated spaces and places and brings healing, hope, and recovery. 

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