Pender County begins Hurricane Florence After Action Report

PENDER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — We told you about New Hanover County reviewing its response to Hurricane Florence, now its Pender County’s turn.

Hurricane Florence broke all records, including rainfall, storm surge, flood damage and more.

Pender County’s plan had its strengths and weaknesses when it came to dealing with the aftermath of Florence.

County Spokeswoman Tammy Proctor, says that the dedication of the first responders was a key strength.

“We had helicopter, we had boats, we had air boats, we had all these deployed personnel out and we had 1,870 rescue missions and we stopped counting after 3,700 people,” said Tammy.

Fire Marshal Tommy Batson says an area that Pender could afford to work on next time around is communication.

“We understand not everyone is on social media looking at options to get information out to the public, warning information to the general public, once we lose all cellphone activity, telephones, internet and what are other options and that some things we’re looking at,” said Tommy.

Proctor says that it may sound dated, but that a good suggestion to keep in the loop is buying a transistor radio.

“We could broadcast communication and just loop information out there on an AM system,” she added.

Officials are reviewing data, the budget and responses to surveys that they sent out to Pender County residents to help complete the plan.