The weather is picture-perfect and it’s days since Hurricane Matthew unleashed its winds and poured torrential rain on North Carolina’s eastern flatlands — but Princeville still is under water.
“This is a disaster area. It’s not going to recover in 24 hours and it’s still going on as we speak, not only in Princeville, but 150 miles from here,” Gov. Pat McCrory said.
“People are playing golf 20 miles from here and yet we have a whole town under water.”
The aftermath of Matthew’s deluge has caused normally tranquil rivers to swell to record levels. Princeville, a town settled by freed slaves in the late 1800s, is among the most severely hit.
Every road into the town about 75 miles east of Raleigh is off limits and officials say most of the town’s 2,000 residents evacuated days ago. Many have taken shelter across the Tar River in Tarboro.
