North Carolina

Historic Black town in North Carolina lies one hurricane away from disaster

Published

3 years ago

April 28, 2022

Historic Black town in North Carolina lies one hurricane away from disaster

As she exits her hometown’s solely restaurant clutching an order of cabbage and hush puppies, Carolyn Suggs Bandy pauses to boast about a spot that stakes its declare because the oldest city chartered by Black People practically 140 years in the past.

“It’s sacred to me,” mentioned Bandy, 65. “We acquired roots on this city.”

But historic Princeville, on the banks of the Tar River in jap North Carolina, is one hurricane away from catastrophe.

With an ever-changing local weather, hurricanes are more likely to be extra intense, and melting glaciers are inflicting sea ranges to rise, making extra flooding inevitable.

A ship ramp signal is submerged within the Tar River because it rises following a heavy rain in Princeville, N.C., Thursday, March 17, 2022. The river continues to be a menace to the small group nestled within the flood plain of the Tar River.

Princeville’s future rests not solely on defending the city from flooding, but in addition convincing youthful generations to make a house within the city. The newest U.S. Census places the city’s inhabitants at 1,254, which marks a steep decline from 2010. The median revenue is $33,325 as of 2020.

Gaining new residents would require offering alternatives that make the transfer value it, or convincing younger households to remain.

Two-term mayor Bobbie Jones, a full-time faculty principal who lives in Princeville and commutes one hour every technique to his job in Hertford County, says historical past compels him — and others —to work for his city’s survival.

“These are sacred grounds,” Jones mentioned. “These are sacred African-American grounds.”

Princeville was included in 1885 by former slaves on swampy, low-lying land. The city grew from a inhabitants of 379 in 1880 to 552 on the flip of the century. It had a faculty, church buildings and companies.

The city has endured racism, bigotry and makes an attempt by white neighbors to erase it from existence.

Right this moment, Princeville options single-family houses interspersed with empty houses which have been boarded up and deserted on account of the 2 newest floods. One church sits with its home windows coated in plywood.

Commerce focuses on a small strip the place a barber store and a liquor retailer flank a comfort retailer the place residents can get snack meals, purchase lottery tickets and fill their vehicles with gasoline. A separate constructing holds the small sit-down restaurant the place Bandy acquired her meals.

Princeville is in a foul spot on the subject of hurricanes due to its place on the Tar River. The city lies 124 miles from the Atlantic Ocean on the fringe of North Carolina’s Coastal Plain, an space the place the most important menace from tropical climate tends to be rain, not wind. When slow-moving storms come ashore and transfer inland, drenching rains that may lengthen removed from the core of the storm drain into the rivers and flood cities alongside the banks.

“When Floyd got here, it appeared like the top of the world. It appeared such as you simply had been turned open air. You already know, the whole lot was huge open.”

Alex Noble, 84, Navy veteran and Princeville resident

If it’s not hurricanes, ocean ranges might be a menace, in accordance with a abstract of the state’s local weather written by N.C. State College.

Melting glaciers add extra water to the ocean, and sea water will increase in quantity when it warms up, the report says.

Makes an attempt to guard the city from flood waters have been combined.

In 1967, the Military Corps of Engineers accomplished an earthen dike alongside the Tar’s southern financial institution. Almost 3 miles lengthy and as much as 49 toes above sea degree, the levee surrounds the city on three sides.
For greater than 30 years, it held nature at bay. Then, in September 1999, Hurricane Floyd hit.

Swollen by rain, pushed by winds, the Tar surged over, round and even below the dike, washing houses from their foundations and the lifeless from their graves.

“When Floyd got here, it appeared like the top of the world,” says Navy veteran Alex Noble, 84. “It appeared such as you simply had been turned open air. You already know, the whole lot was huge open.”

Within the spring of 2016, after years of examine, the Corps introduced plans to try to stop one other catastrophe. The levee could be prolonged, roads could be raised, and gates could be put in in culverts to forestall water passing by the dike.

Just some months after that announcement, Hurricane Matthew struck, and with it got here extra devastating flooding.

In response, Congress accredited practically $40 million to raised shield the city. The cash was appropriated in 2020, however as one other hurricane season approaches, nothing has occurred.

Regardless of the delays, Col. Benjamin A. Bennett, commander of the Corps’ Wilmington district, mentioned Princeville is a precedence.

Princeville What Lies Ahead — A historic marker is displayed on the web site of Freedom Hill in Princeville, N.C., Thursday, March 10, 2022. Historic Princeville, on the banks of the Tar River in jap North Carolina, is one hurricane away from catastrophe. The city, whose seal proudly declares it “the oldest city chartered by Blacks in America,” has flooded many occasions.

“We have now a staff of engineers each single day and a big a part of our district targeted on Princeville. We’re actively tweaking our design and attempting to optimize the engineering, and operating fashions to be sure that we shield Princeville with out inflicting issues elsewhere,” Bennett mentioned.

In the meantime, as Princeville’s inhabitants ages, younger individuals in the end must succeed them to maintain the city transferring ahead. With out its personal business or important business shops, it’s troublesome to maintain youthful residents on the town.

Luring new enterprise into Princeville will seemingly contain providing incentives similar to tax breaks, the type which can be provided by state governments looking for to land a serious producer.

Housing can also be a difficulty. Whereas some houses are being elevated, different householders have accepted buyouts from the N.C. Hazard Mitigation Grant Program.

Regardless of the various challenges, those that dwell in Princeville aren’t prepared to surrender.

Noble, who got here to Princeville together with his spouse in 1963, thinks of the freed slaves who constructed Princeville, and what they may say to right now’s residents.

“You already know, they at all times mentioned, ‘Don’t surrender. Don’t surrender,’” he says. And that’s what we acquired to do. Keep it up. … You already know, we didn’t come this far to show round.”

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North Carolina

People gather for NC Museum of History's annual American Indian Heritage Celebration in Raleigh

Published

5 hours ago

November 24, 2024

Press Room

People gather for NC Museum of History's annual American Indian Heritage Celebration in Raleigh

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — November is Native American Heritage Month, and it’s a time to celebrate the traditions and cultures of the many Native American communities across North Carolina.

On Friday and Saturday, the North Carolina Museum of History held its annual American Indian Heritage Celebration. People learned about Native American history through live performances, food, art, storytelling and more.

Since the history museum is closed for renovation, the celebration was held at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.

“Our songs, our dances, our stories, our language–it’s all medicine to us,” Community Programs Coordinator of NC Museum of History Kaya Littleturtle said at last year’s celebration. “Medicine is anything that makes you well be it physical, spiritual, emotional, all those things are medicine. We hope is that people come out here and they learn about those things, to help uplift us as a people. We hope that it inspires them to go get engaged with things to help uplift them as a people.

This was the 29th year of the celebration.

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North Carolina

Eli Pancol helps Duke football beat Virginia Tech, keep spot as North Carolina’s top team

Published

13 hours ago

November 24, 2024

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Eli Pancol helps Duke football beat Virginia Tech, keep spot as North Carolina’s top team

Duke hasn’t played pretty football at times, but the Blue Devils have consistently proven to be the top team in North Carolina.

After beating UNC (6-5, 3-4) and N.C. State (5-6, 2-5) earlier this year, Duke (8-3, 4-3 ACC) will go for the Tobacco Road sweep in the regular-season finale at Wake Forest (4-7, 2-5) on Nov. 30 (Noon, ACC Network).

Because of their consistently dominant defense and the ability to handle in-game adversity, the Blue Devils are in position to win double-digit games for just the second time in program history.

That’s quite a debut for first-year coach Manny Diaz, who has helped the Blue Devils win five of their six one-score games this season, including a 31-28 victory against Virginia Tech on Saturday in the home finale at Wallace Wade Stadium.

Duke report card vs Virginia Tech

Here’s what and who stood out on senior night in Duke’s eighth win of the 2024 college football season.

Duke wide receiver Eli Pancol caps comeback with special finale at Wallace Wade Stadium

Eli Pancol, Duke’s sixth-year wide receiver who missed the 2023 season with an injury, capped his comeback with an incredible performance in the final home game of his career.

Eli Pancol’s incredible comeback story

Finishing with five catches for 188 yards and three touchdowns, Pancol did most of that damage on two of the first four plays when he had an 86-yard catch-and-run touchdown, followed by a 77-yard catch-and-run TD. In his final two games at Wallace Wade Stadium, Pancol combined for 16 catches for 326 yards and four touchdowns.

Ozzie Nicholas, Cam Bergeron, Kendy Charles shine for Duke football defense

Pancol wasn’t the only senior to shine Saturday night against the Hokies. Duke’s top three tacklers were seniors, combining for 31 tackles, including three for loss. Princeton graduate transfer Ozzie Nicholas, Duke’s leading tackler, led the way again with 11 tackles. Fellow linebacker Cam Bergeron and defensive tackle Kendy Charles each had 10 tackles.

Overall, Duke had 14 tackles for loss, including eight sacks. The Blue Devils have consistently been among the top five teams in the nation at creating havoc for offenses as a steady presence in the backfield. It’s the main reason Duke is in position to reach 10 wins this season.

Manny Diaz keeps proving he was right hire for Blue Devils

Duke has won 10 games once since 1922, getting it done in 2013 under former coach David Cutcliffe, who helped resurrect a struggling program. Following Cutcliffe’s departure, Mike Elko won nine games in his first season and eight in his second before bolting to Texas A&M.

After a successful stint as a defensive coordinator at Penn State, Diaz got a second head-coaching opportunity when Duke hired him in December 2023. In three seasons as the head coach at Miami, Diaz had one year with eight wins. He accomplished that in his debut year at Duke, putting the program in position to join an exclusive club if the Devils can win their final two games.

Rodd Baxley covers Duke, North Carolina and N.C. State for The Fayetteville Observer as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his ACC coverage on X/Twitter or Bluesky: @RoddBaxley. Got questions regarding those teams? Send them to rbaxley@fayobserver.com.

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North Carolina

Live Updates: Ball State vs No. 16 North Carolina At Battle 4 Atlantis 2024 – FloHoops

Published

22 hours ago

November 23, 2024

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Live Updates: Ball State vs No. 16 North Carolina At Battle 4 Atlantis 2024 – FloHoops

No. 16 North Carolina and MAC favorite Ball State face-off in the Bahamas for a special one to kick off two weeks full of holiday college basketball tournaments coming live to FloHoops. The game begins at 6:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Nov. 23 and is the second of many in the 2024 Battle 4 Atlantis Women’s College Basketball tournament.

The Paradise Island, Bahamas-based tournament hosts eight teams including No. 18 Baylor, Indiana, and Texas A&M.

No. 16 North Carolina is 3-1, coming off of a close loss a week ago to No. 2 UConn, falling 58-69 to the Huskies. They hold wins this season against NC A&T, UNC-Wilmington, and Charleston Southern.

Currently undefeated, Ball State will be hoping to upset North Carolina to add an important win to their resume en route to a potential at-large bid to the NCAA tournament at the end of the season. They have defeated Northern Iowa, IUPUI, Memphis, and Old Dominion so far this season.

Read the live updates, watch highlights and view scores after the game tips off at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Live Updates: Ball State vs No. 16 North Carolina Score At Battle 4 Atlantis

Refresh the page for live updates, highlights and scores from today’s game in the Bahamas. Tip off is at 6:30 p.m. ET.

While You Wait…LIVE NOW: Watch Columbia vs Indiana

Click here to tune in live to more women’s college basketball live on FloHoops.

we’ve got a 3️⃣ point game y’all 👏@CULionsWBB | #Battle4Atlantis | @B4AOfficial pic.twitter.com/9Rg0GzJtl6
— FloCollege | Basketball (@FloCollegeHoops) November 23, 2024
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Earlier Today On FloHoops: Baylor Puts Up 15 Threes, Hits Triple Digits vs Southern Miss

After four great quarters of basketball between Southern Miss and Baylor—the Lady Bears come out on top of game one of the Battle 4 Atlantis Women’s tournament.

Five Baylor players had more than 14 points today against the Lady Eagles and were 44% (15-34) from behind the three-point line, making that the most threes for them this season. Fontleroy and Andrews both tallied four.

For Southern Miss, Grayson and Evans led the points with 12, despite Grayson fouling out.

Despite their quick start, the Eagles were unable to keep up with Baylor and will be looking for redemption against the loser of Columbia vs Indiana. Baylor will play the winner.

Read the full game recap.

Battle 4 Atlantis Women’s Tournament Schedule

Saturday, November 23

Sunday, November 24

Monday, November 25

Battle 4 Atlantis Women’s Bracket

Battle 4 Atlantis 2024 Women’s Teams

How To Watch The Battle 4 Atlantis 2024 Women’s Tournament

Every game except the championship of the Women’s Battle 4 Atlantis will be streaming on FloHoops, FloCollege and the new FloSports streaming app.

Game replays, highlights and more will be available on all platforms.

How To Watch College Basketball On The FloSports Network

Basketball games are streaming all year long on FloHoops, FloCollege and the new FloSports streaming app. Game replays, highlights and more will be available on all platforms.

Watch NCAA Women’s Basketball On FloHoops

The NCAA Women’s Basketball is streaming live on FloHoops and the FloSports app.

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