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 Officer at the North Carolina Partnership for Children. They discuss how communities and individual caregivers, such as librarians and parents, step up during hurricanes to support one another despite their own trauma. The episode emphasizes the importance of viewing ourselves as providers and the role of community in post-traumatic growth and healing. The podcast encourages focusing on moments of safety rather than retelling traumatic stories to aid recovery.

Find useful resources from the New Hanover County Resiliency Task Force which can help you and your community prevent and respond to trauma.

A recent article on the North Carolina Partnership for Children's website Preparing North Carolina's Children and Community for Adverse Climate Experiences provides useful tips.

Hosted & Produced by Akshay Gokul

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Want to vote early in coastal North Carolina? Here's how.

¿Quieres votar temprano en la costa de Carolina del Norte? Escucha este anuncio.

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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 the story that would unfold. During the height of the storm, the church began to break down around them.

Flood Zone is a special investigation reporting on flooding in Coastal Carolina communities. The podcast is a project of Shoresides and Working Narratives.

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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 investigation reporting on flooding in Coastal Carolina communities. The podcast is a project of Shoresides and Working Narratives.

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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 special investigation reporting on flooding in Coastal Carolina communities. The podcast is a project of Shoresides and Working Narratives.

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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 American section of town is hit especially hard by the storms. For Lewis, she just tries to help families get to their next step.

Flood Zone is a special investigation reporting on flooding in Coastal Carolina communities. The podcast is a project of Shoresides and Working Narratives.

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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 and commercial building repair – she wonders, where is the help for herself and North River?

Flood Zone is a special investigation reporting on flooding in Coastal Carolina communities. The podcast is a project of Shoresides and Working Narratives.

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"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 a special investigation reporting on flooding in Coastal Carolina communities. The podcast is a project of Shoresides and Working Narratives.

Support the show