LAURINBURG — After feeling the first affect of hurricane Florence, many residents of Laurinburg were out of power. Director of Scotland Emergency Services Roylin Hammond was glad to report that Laurinburg was still in good shape Saturday morning, and that officials are working to power up the city.
“The City of Laurinburg reported that five of the six circuits are out, they believe that four should be up soon,” said Hammond.
He said some parts were broken on the circuits, so it may take longer to fix those circuits.
Hammond says that emergency services have responded to calls but they have been minor accidents. The Emergency Operational Center prepared heavily for this hurricane, receiving top information from the NOAA and local officials.
“We have not had a storm as nearly as bad as predicted, but we are not out of the woods yet,” Hammond said. “There are roads blocked from fallen trees but firefighter teams are clearing them so roads should be open fairly soon.”
On standby are teams from different states who came down to lend a helping hand but because the storm has not currently caused major flooding, Hammond says they will not be used just yet.
“We have a Swift Water Rescue team from Kentucky and an Instant Management team from Arizona,” said Hammond. “Plus (we have) the National Guard high water vehicles as assets.”
Hammond reports that they can be sent where needed if Scotland County remains intact. For now, they are still ready if the situation changes.
Jael Pembrick can be reached at 910-506-3169 or [email protected].