Opinion Roundup: Florence & Trump, surveying agriculture losses, contamination from flooding and more

Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: President Trump surveys devastated parts of N.C., assessing the contamination brought on by flooding, FEMA starts taking stock of damage, climate vulnerabilities in the east, state leaders consider limiting school make-up days, Duke Energy's use of methane and more. 

‘At least you got a nice boat out of the deal,’ Trump tells N.C. man during post-Florence tour (Washington Post reports) -- President Trump, clearly, has an eye for luxury — even in the most unexpected circumstances. Walking along River Drive in New Bern, a low-lying neighborhood that was pummeled by a one-two punch of Hurricane Florence and post-storm flooding, Trump greeted residents and surveyed the devastation.

Trump tours a devastated neighborhood (White House Travel Pool report) -- … President Trump walked along River Drive in New Bern, a low-lying neighborhood of brick and clapboard houses that was swamped by the rising waters of the Neuse River. … Trump crossed the street to a small brick house, where he stopped to greet an older man in the T-shirt. Behind the house, a large yacht had washed ashore and was shipwrecked against the wooden deck. Trump gazed at the yacht, saying, “Is this your boat?” The owner said “no.” Trump turned and replied with smile, “At least you got a nice boat out of the deal.”

MARK PRICE: Trump asks about Lake Norman while surveying devastation (Charlotte Observer reports) -- President Donald Trump asked about Lake Norman during a Wednesday visit to survey North Carolina’s Hurricane Florence flood damage. Lake Norman is home to Trump National Golf Club, an 18-hole golf course. He wanted to know how the Duke Energy-managed lake fared during the hurricane, asking Duke Energy CEO Lynn Good: “And how is Lake Norman, that area? How is that doing?”  Trump was told the lake was good but got a lot of rain, according to the briefing.

Trump had a grand plan; we need it now (Fayetteville Observer) -- President Trump got a close-up look at the mayhem Hurricane Florence left in its wake across the eastern half of North and South Carolina. His reaction left no doubt that he appreciated the scope of the damage and the personal devastation that has left thousands of residents reeling. “We will be there 100 percent,” said Trump,

SOL WEINER: The Fight in Swine Country (Scalawge Magazine) -- Harassed by the toxic hog industry and unprotected by environmental regulators, communities in Eastern N.C. teamed up for a federal environmental justice battle. Hurricane Florence was the third hurricane in 22 years to threaten Eastern N.C. with rivers of hog waste. This is the first in a two part series by documentarian Sol Weiner about a community’s long fight against state regulators and the hog industry for environmental justice.

STEVE INSKEEP: Assessing The Contamination Brought By Flooding (NPR reports) -- Aerial views of parts of N.C. show whole buildings, including industrial livestock farms, inundated. Steve Inskeep talks with Kemp Burdette of Cape Fear River Watch.

RUSTY JACOBS: NC Ag Losses From Florence Will Be Big (WUNC reports) —NC farmers will suffer some heavy losses from the effects of Florence. Preliminary reports from the state agriculture department show heavy hits to peanut, soybean, cotton and sweet potato crops.

JOHN DOWNEY: Why N.C.'s solar power projects are a bright spot amid Florence damage (Charlotte Business Journal reports) -- There has been almost no damage from the storm, say major solar industry players in N.C. And it appears that most, if not all, of the projects off line are out because the power grid — not the projects themselves — failed.

MARK HIBBS: Cooper says ‘Significant resources’ needed in NC (Coastal Review reports) -- Gov. Roy Cooper made an appearance here in Carteret County following a tour of storm-ravaged Craven County with President Donald Trump earlier in the day. “After the cameras leave, after the hot-white focus leaves this area, people will still have flooded homes and people will have businesses that aren’t started up and roads will still be closed and damaged. So, we’re going to need significant resources to recover and I emphasized that to him (President Donald Trump) over and over again. He promised 100 percent support and we’re going to hold them to it,” Cooper said.

VALERIE BAUERLEIN & BEN KESLING: FEMA Starts Taking Stock Of Damage From Storm (Wall Street Journal reports) -- Just as some local officials said they were starting to get antsy about the arrival of federal aid in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence, it began arriving.

SARAH OVASKA-FEW: Keeping Safe After Florence (N.C. Health News reports) -- As cleanup proceeds, there are some simple things people can do to keep themselves from becoming a casualty.

STEPHANIE CARSON: Hurricane Underscores Climate Vulnerabilities in Eastern NC (Public News Service reports) -- Communities in eastern N.C. have a long road to recovery after Hurricane Florence. Weather events like this weekend's intense rainfall are becoming more common, in part because of climate change - but there's a data gap in the research. That's the premise of an article in the N.C. Medical Journal from Greg Kearney, associate professor at the Brody School of Medicine at ECU.

LIZ SCHLEMMER: Schools Face Flooded Buildings And Impassable Bus Routes After Florence (WUNC-FM) -- Schools across the southeastern part of the state remained closed this week as administrators begin to assess the damage from Hurricane Florence.

SARAH NEWELL: Coastal residents at Winston-Salem shelter wonder about homes, where to go from here (Winston-Salem Journal reports) -- Some Hurricane Florence evacuees can’t wait to return to their homes on the coast.

CATHERINE LUCY: Trump comforts storm-ravaged Carolinas with hot dogs, hugs (AP reports) —  Eager to show heart in a moment of crisis, President Donald Trump handed out hot dogs, hugs and comforting words in the Carolinas on Wednesday as he surveyed the wreckage left by Hurricane Florence.

Gov. Cooper, President Trump meet in NC to assess Florence damage (WRAL reports) — By 11:45 a.m. President Trump and Gov. Cooper arrived at New Bern’s Temple Baptist Church to help volunteers with Baptists on Mission hand out hot meals to people in need.

SARAH KRUEGER: ’Worse out there than it was in here:' Senior citizens stay in place as Lumber River rises (WRAL reports) — The pumps were working furiously Wednesday to counter Mother Nature and get the water out, and city officials said Lumberton’s levee is holding up despite the flooding left behind by Hurricane Florence.

Bad timing for FEMA probe (Fayetteville Observer) — This would be a most inconvenient time for a shakeup in top management at the Federal Emergency Management Agency. We are just beginning to gauge the extent of Hurricane Florence’s damage, and we need a massive, well-designed response from FEMA.

PAUL SPECHT & COLIN CAMPBELL: After Florence, NC leaders want to limit school make-up days (Charlotte Observer reports) — State law requires schools to be in session for 185 days or 1,025 hours of instruction per year. But some state leaders want to ease statewide attendance requirements for counties affected by the storm.

LIZ BELL: Educators look for next steps amid Craven County’s Florence aftermath (EdNC reports) — When Jacklin Masalisali and her 15-year-old son Sovere returned Monday to New Bern after fleeing in the wake of Hurricane Florence, they found their home ruined by flooding that reached the second floor of their apartment complex.

WASN’T MEXICO SUPPOSED TO PAY? Rockingham sheriff helps roll out crowdfunding site for border wall (Greensboro News & Record reports) -- Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page has joined a group of 43 other sheriffs from around the U.S. to announce a crowdfunding website to raise money from Americans to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border that President Donald Trump promised Mexico would finance. The idea for the fundraising campaign came out of an immigration meeting Page attended recently in Washington, D.C., with other sheriffs and Vice President Mike Pence.

Judges make their case (Winston-Salem Journal) -- There was the thought of leaping onto a desk and shouting “you tell ‘em” when a three-judge federal panel delivered a stern comeuppance for lawyers representing the General Assembly in the ongoing congressional redistricting case.

‘Best Places to Live’ picks Cary #5, Chapel Hill #33 – a boost to HQ2 chances? (WRAL TechWire) — Money Magazine may have given the Triangle’s chances of landing Amazon HQ2 with its latest “Best Places to Live in America” list. Or the list may help doom North Carolina’s hopes. How? By listing Cary as No. 5. And Chapel Hill came in at No. 33.

EDUCATION

KATIE REILLY: 'I Work 3 Jobs And Donate Blood Plasma to Pay the Bills.' This Is What It’s Like to Be a Teacher in America (Time Magazine reports) -- “Utility companies do not care that you had a great day with one of your students. They don’t care that you’re coaching the soccer team. They want you to pay for the services that they provide you,” says NaShonda Cooke, a teacher and single mother of two in Raleigh. “I can’t tell you how many letters I got this summer that said final notice.” Cooke, who makes about $69,000, often skips doctor’s appointments to save the co-pay and worries about paying for her eldest daughter’s college education. “It’s not about wanting a pay raise or extra income,” she says. “It’s just about wanting a livable wage.”

CMS offers an olive branch to the suburbs. It’s not enough (Charlotte Observer) -- At the conclusion of a meeting that should have happened long ago, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Board of Education member Elyse Dashew extended an olive branch. “What I see here today are a bunch of grown-ups who take the time to get together to do what is best for children,” she said. That may have been true, but it also may be too late. Less than 18 hours before, town boards in Huntersville and Cornelius voted to create study commissions for building and running their own charter schools separate from CMS. Two other suburbs, Matthews and Mint Hill, appear ready to explore the same.

JIM WARREN: Duke Energy must curb its use of methane. It’s fueling hurricanes (Durham-Herald Sun reports) — Cheaper, clean-energy solutions are ready to replace fossil-fueled electricity, and the ticking climate clock demands that Duke Energy begin that transition today. Instead, Duke is going the wrong way. In addition to its decades of burning coal, the utility has been aggressively expanding its use of fracked “natural” gas – methane – while opposing requirements to curb methane venting and leakage.