Governor pledges help for flood victims

CONCORD, N.C. -- Gov. Mike Easley addressed flood damage in Cabarrus County on Thursday and pledged there would be help, either from the state or from the federal government.

“We will do everything we can to make everybody whole,” the governor said at the Concord Regional Airport.

Easley had planned for a helicopter tour of the hardest hit area in the county that has already declared a state of emergency, but he was grounded by clouds and fog.

Asked when help might start arriving and where it would come from, the governor said, “We haven’t declared or asked for federal relief because we don’t have any numbers."

Easley said there are complicated formulas that must be followed when applying for federal dollars and until exact damage estimates are in no application can be filed. Easley said he expected the earliest numbers might be ready would be next Tuesday.

On Dakota Street in Kannapolis, Jim Daniel told NewsChannel 36 he knows what the storm cost him. He was mopping out his ground floor apartment Thursday that was swamped by water from a nearby creek.

“I’d never seen it that high before,” he said.

Daniel is now being housed by the Red Cross in a hotel but knows that will last only for a few days.

Cabarrus County Emergency Management teams are out working to try to put the numbers together so a decision can be made on whether to apply for federal help or turn to the state.

It is estimated there are 70 buildings in the county with damage -- 17 of those structures have what the governor called “major damage.”