Speaker 1: Bill cunning in the Great American Welcome this Flora. It's
Speaker 1: Monday after in the Tri State, we have crises all
Speaker 1: over the country, especially North Carolina. Red Spaseball concluded they're
Speaker 1: not in last place. That one game out of last place,
Speaker 1: so I guess this season was a moderate success. Bengals
Speaker 1: one and three. On Sunday they play the Ravens here,
Speaker 1: we'll see what happens. But until then, we have literal
Speaker 1: crises happening all over the country, especially now in North Carolina.
Speaker 1: It appears that Florida is somewhat prepared for these events.
Speaker 1: Terrible damage in Florida. But let's face it, Florida's prepared
Speaker 1: for hurricanes. But I can't be said about North Carolina.
Speaker 1: We have so many friends and family from this area
Speaker 1: that have homes and places outside of the Tri State,
Speaker 1: including North Carolina. Yours truly has spent quite a bit
Speaker 1: of time at Maggie Valley, North Carolina, which is in
Speaker 1: the mountains right over the line going up twenty six
Speaker 1: and I four, beautiful scenic, but that has been destroyed
Speaker 1: because of the kindness of Richard K. Jones, the sheriff
Speaker 1: of Butler County. He has relationship with Sheriff Sam Page
Speaker 1: of Randolph. I'm sorry of Rockingham County, North Carolina, and
Speaker 1: Sheriff Page, welcome to the Bill Cunningham Show. And first
Speaker 1: of all, Sheriff, can you describe as this storm was
Speaker 1: developing in the south and North Carolina? Normally done prepare
Speaker 1: for hurricanes, that's that's a Florida difficulty. But in the
Speaker 1: day or two before what happened Thursday, Friday and Saturday,
Speaker 1: what was the what was the availability of warnings and
Speaker 1: things of that character in your section of North Carolina.
Speaker 2: Well as I understand and plus what I observed is
Speaker 2: you know, we had tornado warnings throughout most of Friday,
Speaker 2: owned it off Friday, Uh, there were a lot of
Speaker 2: warnings of potential a lot of rain coming, particularly in
Speaker 2: the western part of the state.
Speaker 3: I'm in the Piedmont area and then to our west is.
Speaker 2: The area that was a highly affected, horrific situation and
Speaker 2: damaged and loss of lives, terrible, terrible situation. But a
Speaker 2: lot of a lot of winds and a lot of
Speaker 2: rains coming from the hurricane at Leen.
Speaker 1: And as the storm hit on Friday and Saturday. We're
Speaker 1: going to talk about Monday afternoon in a moment or two.
Speaker 1: But as the storm hit, was there some was there
Speaker 1: some indication that there are things was gonna be literally
Speaker 1: a disaster for western North Carolina? Was there a sense
Speaker 1: this is almost a biblical what's happening. Was there a
Speaker 1: sense just as the storm was hitting, You're about to
Speaker 1: have something that never happened before in Nashville? Was there
Speaker 1: that was there that level of apprehension.
Speaker 2: Well, I think everybody was responding to this u the
Speaker 2: oncoming storm, but nobody expected. I don't think anybody expected
Speaker 2: to this to this level of damage. I mean, you've
Speaker 2: got dams that were uh were damaged, You've got uh
Speaker 2: extensive flooding from rivers and roadways destroyed. It's it looks
Speaker 2: like somebody went in, you know, like the town of
Speaker 2: Jimmy Rock, I understand, was was totally leveled by the
Speaker 2: by the extensive amount of water that came through there,
Speaker 2: from the from the floods and from the from the
Speaker 2: rain and everything coming together in the winds and everything.
Speaker 2: So it was just a terrible situation. I feel so
Speaker 2: feel so bad for everybody up there. You know what
Speaker 2: happened in course, you know, there was a lot of
Speaker 2: loss of lives and IM understand it. There's some people
Speaker 2: that are still missing up there in the actual area.
Speaker 1: And as far as I forty and I twenty six,
Speaker 1: I had a report from the AP a few hours
Speaker 1: ago that there are bridges, small little bridges that are out.
Speaker 1: There's massive mud slides up and down I forty and
Speaker 1: I twenty six. It's impassable. And if you would have
Speaker 1: wanted to get you and your mind, you're only about
Speaker 1: three hours away from Ashville, and you're in the little
Speaker 1: you're east of that in the Piedmont. But if your
Speaker 1: guys wanted to get there to Asheville, North Carolina, how
Speaker 1: would you do it?
Speaker 3: That's a good question.
Speaker 2: Through the North Coline Sheriff's Association, we got a program
Speaker 2: Sheriffs Helping Sheriffs, So throughout the day, I know we'll
Speaker 2: be receiving additional information if we if we can send
Speaker 2: some help, what they'll tell us exactly what is needed
Speaker 2: and where it's needed at and then we'll be able
Speaker 2: to be provided a route of travel. But you know you,
Speaker 2: like I said, normally Interstate forty we can make it
Speaker 2: to ash with a good three hours. But with all
Speaker 2: the damage on outer State forty on and off in
Speaker 2: the bridges and then coming you know, I understand coming
Speaker 2: into Tennessee into forty and also Interstate twenty thick, which
Speaker 2: is a major north south route Interstate U.
Speaker 3: With all that damage and all the water damage.
Speaker 2: Again, we will have to wait for some instructions to
Speaker 2: tell us which way is the route. I was speaking
Speaker 2: with our Mercy Management director just a while to go,
Speaker 2: and he's in the area in McDowell County near Marion,
Speaker 2: and he was explaining that, you know, it is passable
Speaker 2: on forty to get up to that point.
Speaker 3: But again, like I said, beyond that, you know, we
Speaker 3: don't we don't.
Speaker 2: Have an additional information by understanding with all the rain
Speaker 2: and damage that you know, the communications A lot of
Speaker 2: you say the communication is out up there also, so
Speaker 2: we kind of we're watching our news reports and and
Speaker 2: of course as we get more information to the association,
Speaker 2: we'll see what we need to do. We're doing food
Speaker 2: collections right now in our in our agec across our county.
Speaker 2: There's several churches that are putting together supplies such as
Speaker 2: drinking water is very important, UH understand, fuel for generators,
Speaker 2: non perishable food products, flass flights and batteries and personal
Speaker 2: hygiene items.
Speaker 3: So all those items are important.
Speaker 2: So if you've got a church you know, you know
Speaker 2: in your area that want to help, UH, you need to.
Speaker 2: You'll need to connect up with the either emergency management
Speaker 2: here in North Carolina UH to get information or here locally.
Speaker 3: UH You'll check, you'll you'll check with it.
Speaker 2: You'll see some of the local churches listing where they're
Speaker 2: doing collection points. And then like I said, you know,
Speaker 2: we're we're gonna be a collection point from the.
Speaker 3: Next two weeks here in our county.
Speaker 2: And of course as we go throughout the day and
Speaker 2: the next few days, we'll see what the needs are
Speaker 2: if we can send some of our staff with a
Speaker 2: small agency, but you know, we'll do our part working
Speaker 2: with other law enforcement to help where we can.
Speaker 1: And so I understand that it's accessible only by air
Speaker 1: because there are routes that have been completely destroyed. I
Speaker 1: had a report earlier that will take years for I
Speaker 1: forty to be repaired because of the bridges and the mudslides.
Speaker 1: Interstate Highway several bridges are out of those will take
Speaker 1: a long time. IGH twenty six the same way. If
Speaker 1: it's unreachable by the ground the only way to get
Speaker 1: there is through the air, and the needs are great,
Speaker 1: whether it's cell phone tires, whether it's hygiene products, whether
Speaker 1: it's water, whether it's food. There's no communication. Is that
Speaker 1: section in North Carolina at this point, Sheriff Sam Page
Speaker 1: largely inaccessible? And are they by themselves and a loan?
Speaker 2: I'll say this is I know that a lot of
Speaker 2: your major roads, like we just stated, have been damaged.
Speaker 2: I haven't personally been up there, and I'm just getting
Speaker 2: missing piece of information right now. But the best way
Speaker 2: is to keep posted just to see what's coming out
Speaker 2: on the on the local news, uh, what's being broadcast
Speaker 2: about you, if someone's trying to help somebody. The State
Speaker 2: Mercy Management is probably gonna be your best source of
Speaker 2: information about if you're trying to get up in the area.
Speaker 2: But you know, if you if you don't need to
Speaker 2: be up in an area, it probably do not need
Speaker 2: to travel because there's still a lot of dangers with
Speaker 2: the water and with the swift waters is going down
Speaker 2: and and you know, like I said, it's just a
Speaker 2: lot of it's a lot of destruction up there, and
Speaker 2: that probably you know, only people that need to be
Speaker 2: up there and and if the people are going up
Speaker 2: there to help need to be up there at this time.
Speaker 1: Sheriff Sam Page or North Carolina? Where's FEMA? You would
Speaker 1: think the Federal Emergency Management? Where is FEMA?
Speaker 3: I can't.
Speaker 2: I can't speak to FEMA. I was seeing I'm watching
Speaker 2: on TV just a little bit ago, uh, from the
Speaker 2: Office of the President. But I haven't seen the broadcast yet.
Speaker 2: But I'm sure FEMA will be brought online uh in
Speaker 2: working with Emergency Management shortly. I assume they will be
Speaker 2: just I. I just haven't seen any broadcast. Received the
Speaker 2: information through our sources.
Speaker 1: Have you ever you've been around a long time, Sheriff
Speaker 1: Sam Page, have you ever seen this level of destruction
Speaker 1: in western North Carolina in your career?
Speaker 2: I don't think I have in my I've lived in
Speaker 2: I've lived in Rockham County most of my life, and
Speaker 2: with exception of being in the military now, I never have.
Speaker 3: Katrina. Is is one's going that comes to mind?
Speaker 2: You know? Uh, Hurricane Andrew, you know, destroyed one of
Speaker 2: the as I was stationed a down in Miami area
Speaker 2: back when I was in service. But and the enforced
Speaker 2: Mount Conetuba Manetubo in the Philippines that exploded and erupted
Speaker 2: and destroyed the base where we were stationed at. So
Speaker 2: those are some areas that you know that that come
Speaker 2: to mind. But no, I don't think in North Carolina
Speaker 2: we've ever seen anything to this level.
Speaker 1: And in fact, North Carolina doesn't get ready for hurricanes.
Speaker 1: In the Piedmont up in the mountains, it doesn't. It
Speaker 1: doesn't equate. I spent time in Naples, Florida, and we
Speaker 1: were you know, Florida's kind of ready for this, They're
Speaker 1: ready to go. But North Carolinians aren't ready for hurricanes generally,
Speaker 1: unless you might be on the coast. But even that's
Speaker 1: a very very rare event. So this is a shock. Well,
Speaker 1: uh is there. I'm gonna Matthew twenty five Ministries is
Speaker 1: located here and they have trucks rolling. We're going to
Speaker 1: communicate through the website to let people know where to
Speaker 1: give money. Matthew's twenty five is going to focus there
Speaker 1: are a great charity to focus on North Carolina because
Speaker 1: Florida can largely take care of itself. Although big problems
Speaker 1: are in Florida. What they know what they're doing with hurricanes,
Speaker 1: I can same camp Be said about Asheville, North Carolina.
Speaker 1: And for those who have not been there, it's in
Speaker 1: the mountains at the bottom of a valley. There's rivers
Speaker 1: all over the place. The dams are gone, the rivers
Speaker 1: have overflowed, cities have been wiped out. One media reporter
Speaker 1: head over a thousand people missing, with cars and trucks
Speaker 1: and fans floating away houses going down the river. And
Speaker 1: at this point, what's the weather condition this afternoon right now?
Speaker 1: What's going on in western North Carolina?
Speaker 3: Weatherwise?
Speaker 2: From what I watched on the local news and weather,
Speaker 2: we maybe get a little bit of rain, but that
Speaker 2: had that shouldn't uh nowhere near what would came in
Speaker 2: on uh, you know, Thursday and Friday. So I would
Speaker 2: ask everybody to say a prayer for all of our
Speaker 2: first responders and all the persons are coming here and helping.
Speaker 2: And there's the American Purse or Red Cross and another
Speaker 2: other agencies and Mercy Manager, a lot of a lot
Speaker 2: of people responding. It's the location to help. Just keep
Speaker 2: them in your prayers, you know, because this is a
Speaker 2: tough time for North Carolina. But you know, we're resvant,
Speaker 2: we'll we'll we'll get through this. But it's gonna be
Speaker 2: it's gonna take a long time, and so just keep
Speaker 2: everybody in your thoughts and for and look for safety.
Speaker 1: Sara sam Page of Rockingham, North Carolina. Please get back
Speaker 1: to work, and thanks for calling into the Bill Cunningham
Speaker 1: Show to let the residents of Trice they know what
Speaker 1: they can do.
Speaker 3: Bill.
Speaker 2: I did want to stay one thing that Also, I
Speaker 2: want you to keep the two deputies and one in
Speaker 2: Madison County and one in Making County lost their lives
Speaker 2: responding to work during the storm. They both lost their
Speaker 2: lives with the water event. So I keep them in
Speaker 2: your prayers also from Madison and Making County.
Speaker 1: Also, we'll do that and I'm gonna look online get
Speaker 1: their names. Say a prayer for those two deputies who
Speaker 1: gave their life and service to others. There's no greater
Speaker 1: sacrifice a man or a woman can make to give
Speaker 1: your life for your friends and family, and cops and
Speaker 1: sheriffs and CEOs do it all the time. And we'll
Speaker 1: offer prayers of hope for those that remain in prayers
Speaker 1: of thanks for those who gave their lives. Sheriff sam Page,
Speaker 1: thank you for coming on the Bill Cunningham Show. I
Speaker 1: want to thank again Richard K. Jones of Butler County
Speaker 1: for hooking me up with you. He's part of the
Speaker 1: National Sheriff's Association, does a great job there. But Sheriff
Speaker 1: Sam Page, thank you very much for coming on this afternoon.
Speaker 1: Thank you, yeah, thank you. All right, let's take some
Speaker 1: telephone calls five one, three, seven, four, nine, seven thousand.
Speaker 3: Understand.
Speaker 1: North College Hill is back online and we'll come back
Speaker 1: online soon. Parts of the tri State itself has been
Speaker 1: devastated by the storm and whether or not we can help,
Speaker 1: we want to do that. Bill Cunningham with you every day.
Speaker 1: You're home of The Reds have now completed their season
Speaker 1: in the Bengals Big Game on Sunday. Kind of irrelevant
Speaker 1: compared to these kind of issues, but it's important to
Speaker 1: have diversions from the reality of life. Bill Cunningham, News
Speaker 1: Radio seven hundred WLW.
Speaker 2: Meanwhile, in the unchetted forest, Eddie and Rocky, you are
Speaker 2: at blacked by a ferocious forest monster.
Speaker 3: Oh no, is this the end of Eddie and Rocky?
Speaker 3: Will we ever laugh along with him?
Speaker 1: I'm a radio again, the Announcered guy.
Speaker 3: Relax. Yeah, it's just a cheap radio sound.
Speaker 1: I see so you two were never in peril, not
Speaker 1: for a second. So now I look like a giant
Speaker 1: d bag. Thanks a lot.
Speaker 2: You're welcome Eddie and Ruckie this afternoon at three on
Speaker 2: seven hundred WLW