Roanoke Rapids Mayor Emery Doughtie this evening declared a state of emergency that comes with a curfew that begins at 11 this evening and goes through 6 Sunday morning.

The curfew will continue each day until further notice and is in response to Friday’s storm which toppled trees and power lines throughout the city.

“The state of emergency … discourages the travel upon any street or alley within the city limits or any other public property …” the declaration says, with several exceptions:

Those in search of medical assistance, commodities, or other services for their or family wellbeing; law enforcement, public safety, public utilities, medical employees and media.

At a press conference at city hall this afternoon, City Manager Kelly Traynham said, “We just want to continue the efforts and get the message out to say that we need our residents and visitors to stay safe and vigilant at this time.”

She said the city continues to experience significant power outages. As of this report, Dominion’s power outage map was down but earlier in the day it showed more than 4,000 in the Roanoke Rapids area were without power.

“With these recent power outages, your safety and wellbeing remain our top priority,” she said. “In order to do that we ask that you stay at home and stay off the roads as well. These power outages not only disrupt our daily lives but also (add) some heightened risks to those dangerous conditions such as falling trees and impassable streets that still remain throughout the city.”

The current hazards in the city are dangerous trees, she said. “We want to avoid these areas that have falling trees, precariously leaning trees because they may still continue to fall as the winds are remaining high.”

Traynham said the city is encouraging preparedness as night falls where areas without power will remain dark. “Check on your neighbors as well and look for things like flashlights, water and food and have those things available.”

She advised to conserve energy by shutting off nonessential devices to avoid power surges. “Please cooperate, avoid affected areas and adhere to the posted guidelines through our state of emergency.”

Police chief

Chief Lawrence Wiggins said the police department advises motorists approaching intersections where traffic lights are out to treat them as stop signs, four-way or three-way stops.

“It’s important that we take a moment to think about what we’re doing when we’re traveling to avoid any unnecessary collisions,” he said. “Emergency resources have already been taxed due to the initial response last night.”

In speaking about the curfew, Wiggin said, “If you don’t need to be out — stay home, especially in the area where the power outages are most prevalent … If you have an emergency or you have a situation and you’re not quite sure,reach out to the Roanoke Rapids Police Department … and we’ll be able to help you navigate whatever the situation you have going on.”

Fire chief

Chief Jason Patrick said Station 1 remains without power.

He said those using generators should take precautions. “Set them away from the house. You don’t need carbon monoxide making its way into the house. Make sure it’s working properly and also make sure it’s not in an area where it’s wet.”

When refueling, let it cool down.

Parks and recreation

Parks and recreation Director Kelly Daughtry said there is power at T.J. Davis, the library, Kirkwood, the canal museum, and Chaloner.

Jo Story and the Lloyd Andrews building are currently without power.

Chockoyotte Park appears to be OK, she said. A section of the walking trail at Emry is closed. “There are some major tree issues in the back session of the trail and that has been roped off,” she said. “We do appreciate the forest service and fire department going over there and helping with some of that and getting it roped off so that people know not to go back there. That may take a while for us to be able to clear out.”

The Roanoke Canal Trail is closed. “There are trees (down) up and down that trail,” she said. “It may not be what we are able to give attention to as the first priority. We will try to announce when the trail will be back open.”

The playground at Rochelle Park is damaged.

Halifax County declaration

Traynham noted the county declared a state of emergency earlier today. “We understand that Roanoke Rapids may have had the largest hit geographically, but there are a lot of areas in the unincorporated areas in the same situation with tree damage as well.”

Doughtie

“We’re very blessed in this storm,” the mayor said before reading the declaration. “It could have been much worse.”

He said, “I’m very proud of what our officials have done. They’ve done a very good job. They’ve worked tirelessly. We’ve been very fortunate to receive assistance from municipalities, from the state, from the power companies and private companies. We’ve just had a lot of people that have reached out and helped us get through this situation with much less difficulty than we would if we had been on our own.”

Doughtie said, “It’s obvious we had a good plan because we have made tremendous progress … I believe in saying that when you have difficult times, you emerge as a stronger community.”

Traynham said, “We’ll bounce back from this and do our best to continue moving (forward). Our staff is very dedicated. They’re exhausted at this point and we appreciate the patience.”

There are some questions that can’t be answered like when will internet and power be restored. “We’re a 24-7 operation and we look out for our citizens. You all mean the most to us and we just hope for safety and the best outcome in this situation.”

Q&A

Thus far first responders have not been made aware of any physical injuries, Wiggins said.

Traynham said there has not been an update on the number of streets that have been reopened.

“The majority are open,” Wiggins said. “There are so many crews that have come in to help with public works, clearing different trees. At this point it’s difficult to say. There are a number of crews working all over the city to clear these blockages.”

There is still not a clear number of the number of structures damaged, Traynham said. A house in the 1300 block of Jefferson is perhaps the most substantially damaged, she said. “Trees are covering the structures to the extent where damage assessments can’t be fully completed at this time.”

She said there are still active power lines entangled within tree debris “and Dominion requests that we not interfere with that and allow their crews to address those matters.”

With the state of emergency declaration, Traynham said the city will try to seek any reimbursements possible. “This event is costing the city in overtime, fuel, personnel costs and the disposal of debris. We are actively working to maintain that data and should we, through the state, through emergency management and through the governor’s office become eligible for those reimbursements we will gladly receive them.”