Eastern Carolina fire departments gather supplies to help victims of Ian

MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. (WITN) - Efforts continue to provide relief for the victims of last week’s storm.

The Morehead City Fire Department, along with several other fire departments in Carteret County and Carteret Community College, is gathering supplies to ship down to Florida.

Officials say the recovery effort is a chance to return the favor of a helping hand extended years ago.

“We have multiple sites collecting,” Dykeman Baily, Morehead City Fire Department assistant chief says, adding that Lee County Fire and EMS helped them out after Hurricane Florence for nearly two weeks.

Baily says they are discussing whether Carteret County Fire and EMS will send direct help to Florida.

Casey Arthur with the Atlantic Beach Police Department says they are going to be making clean-out kits for flooded homes in the Sunshine State.

For now, it’s all hands on deck, stocking up supplies for a long road to recovery.

“It does come back,” Arthur says. “Everything will eventually get back to normal. It takes a lot of time, it’s definitely a process.”

Baily says that is the way of life.

“That’s how we learn to survive and help our neighbors. Whenever someone’s down, we’re going to stop and pick them up.”

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