CALYPSO — Last week, Calypso Fire Department trucks were parked outside, and the station was packed full of paper towels, toilet paper, toiletries, diapers, wipes, potato chips, bottled water, and more supplies for the victims of Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina. It was enough for two tractor-trailer loads that were trucked to Madison County and the small town of Marshall over the weekend.
“It started with a phone call Sunday morning,” said Calypso resident Roger Davis. The result was an outpouring of donations from Calypso and surrounding communities Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
“It has taken a lot of people to make this happen,” Gail Herring, who volunteered to help gather and organize the supplies, told Duplin Journal. “We’ve had local fire departments that all provided support. Industries and schools, just everybody has been so wonderful. We also had some students from North Duplin in the middle school that have done some volunteering.”
Calypso Fire Chief John Davis said he made some contacts with companies Cash Trucking and Tomahawk Trucking to line up the trucks to deliver the supplies to Madison County. “We’ve had a lot of problems with storms like this, too and they helped us, so we want to help them.”
The townspeople also partnered with NC Baptists on Mission on the supply drive. “Baptists on Mission has several thousand trained volunteers,” said Paul Langston, missions mobilization consultant with NC Baptists on Mission. “Up there, we’ve connected with churches giving out food, baby items, etc. We’ve got 11 recovery sites up there with volunteers going in.”
Teresa Gionet said she’s only lived in Calypso for four years, but she has been impressed with how the community bands together to help others. “I’ve never seen anything like this town,” she said. “They have fundraisers all the time for people, and now this. It’s wonderful.”
None of the Calypso residents wanted to take credit for all the supplies that were donated. Instead, Roger Davis said, “This was all the Lord’s work. He deserves all the credit.”
After the remnants of Hurricane Helene unleashed a trail of destruction and casualties across western North Carolina and the death toll continues to rise, relief efforts remain crucial.
Volunteers led by Terry Norris, executive director of Emerge Chaplains Response Team and Emerge Ministries in Beulaville, deployed to Black Mountain before the storm to help with relief efforts.
“This is our 21st mission and deployment for Emerge Ministries doing disaster relief. The Free Will Baptist organization has been kind enough to lend [the Cragmont Assembly facility] to use as the Emerge Chaplain’s Response Team command center,” said Norris during an interview.
While Helene came into the western NC region as a tropical storm, it brought so much torrential rain to an already sodded area that it caused significant flooding and landslides, swallowing entire neighborhoods under fast-moving water.
Norris told Duplin Journal that volunteers had tried to persuade people to evacuate, but some did not anticipate the severity of the situation and chose to remain. He recounted the story of two elderly people who had been friends for 50 years. Despite warnings, the two decided to stay to weather the storm. Sadly, one of them did not survive as their house was swept away by floodwaters and carried down the mountain into the river.
Emerge Ministries out of Beulaville is helping mobilize hundreds of volunteers to western North Carolina to help with relief efforts. Amidst all the loss and the devastation, volunteers are making a meaningful impact, helping with search and rescue efforts, clearing roads, and building paths to get to communities that have been trapped for days without a hot meal or water. Photo Courtesy Emerge Ministries volunteers
“Up in another hauler we went to, there was nephews and nieces and uncles, grandmas and grandpas and mothers and daughters, and there was about 30-40 of them that stayed up in one hauler, and they gathered up in the church, and it took the church — all of them are gone… There were some two-by-fours left in the trees, but the whole church was gone … no one was left alive,” said Norris, adding that they couldn’t even locate where the church used to be.
Norris told Duplin Journal that they started moving people away from the mountainsides on the first morning.
“When we got to moving around, we realized how massive it was,” said Norris. “I started calling in our partners all around the country trying to figure out how to get equipment and stuff in here,” said Norris, explaining that Emerge works with the Emergency Management Operations Office that partners with other North Carolina Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster companies.
Currently, they are taking in about 100-150 volunteers a week, and about 20% are from Duplin County. Norris also shared that law enforcement mobilized volunteers from Lenoir, Onslow, and Wayne counties, to name a few. “Many of them were housed here so they could take a shower … I’ve got some that are here serving and working with the Pink Hill and Potters Hill fire departments,” said Norris.
“We worked with the head of emergency management out of Black Mountain. We coordinated with them, sent crews out with the town of Black Mountain and Montreat, and helped clear roads,” said Norris, adding that Emerge also partnered with the town to help them. “That’s how I got people in and out …. plus we have our chaplain’s passes and stuff where we can go across federal barricades. That helped us be able to maneuver people, and supplies where other people couldn’t.“
Last week, Norris told Duplin Journal they had crews doing cadaver searches and that the area was like a war zone from the devastation they were seeing on the ground. “The infrastructure there is totally destroyed.”
“We could smell [the cadavers], but we couldn’t find them; they’re just so deep. And then we’ve got people still floating up in the Tennessee River, where [communities] were swept into the rivers. We ain’t found nobody alive,” he said. “We have found people alive, but you don’t find them alive when they’re in those places. There have been a lot of rescues, though, and saved many lives. We are passing out supplies and feeding about 3,000 people a day on average.”
Norris told Duplin Journal that they chose to set up a command center there for its centric location, which provided more access.
“We were almost in the center between the bottom of Old Fort and Asheville. … and we were backed off the mountain out of the main roadway zone through 70. That way, we wouldn’t block traffic in town because it’s such a small town. They started turning people away because they were just coming and dropping stuff off in the middle of the street, and it just became a mess,” he said, explaining that at that point, people trying to help overwhelmed an already overwhelmed area because they went in without planning how they would get through or where they could drop off the supplies.
“We’ve honored the city and the process. I don’t want anybody to think we’ve been out here cowboying it and doing all this on our own,” said Norris, adding that he is extremely thankful for all the volunteers, donors, and their partners for enabling them to set up a command center there.
“We’re bringing in agriculture drones and have four-wheelers. Besides that, it’s making its way up different parts of the mountains to deliver food and water,” said Norris, explaining that the drones help deliver about 30-50 pounds of food and water to the most inaccessible areas.
“Some places the four-wheelers can’t even get to. So far, I’ve got two [drones] on their way,” said Norris, explaining the outpour of help they are getting through their website, from people donating their time and resources like the drones to support those who have lost everything.
To make a real difference, Norris emphasized the need for more volunteers to sign up through their website at Emerge for Unity.
“This will be a year-long process,” said Norris about the rebuilding efforts, adding that volunteers will play a crucial role in the journey. Norris collaborates with the Fuller Center Disaster ReBuilders, a Christian volunteer organization, to provide support.
According to Norris, homeowners who rebuild with that organization can benefit from mortgages typically under $500. Additionally, those who opt for home repairs may have the remaining mortgage forgiven if they stay in the house for three years.
“Jimmy Carter helped them understand how to do that, just like Habitat for Humanity; that’s why I partner with them. They won’t move in for another month, but people will still volunteer through Emerge to get to them because I’ll vet the volunteers,” said Norris.
Amidst all the loss and the devastation, a common denominator Norris sees among the volunteers is that their personal encounters with a natural disaster and hardships have strengthened their resolve to make a meaningful impact. Their involvement is not just valuable; it’s crucial in the coming months.
As of press time they are feeding and supplying more than 7,000 people daily and need more volunteers. According to Norris, they are also starting to clean out the houses destroyed and will need all hands on deck. He also shared that they have enough supplies to last until Oct. 19, the date they have scheduled for the next mass delivery. Norris is asking the public who wishes to help to continue gathering supplies for the next delivery date.
Local Board of Elections director answers commonly asked questions
As the Nov. 5 general election approaches, Duplin Journal will feature a series of Q&As with Duplin County Board of Elections Director Carrie Sullivan.
If you haven’t registered to vote yet, you can still do so until Friday, Oct. 11. Eligible individuals who miss this deadline can register and vote during the early voting period from Oct. 17 through Nov. 2. Absentee ballots must be requested by 5 p.m. on Oct. 29. They must be received in the office by 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 5 (close of polls).
With presidential elections less than 4 weeks away, what are the main challenges ahead?
The main challenge right now is keeping voters properly informed. There is quite a bit of misinformation out there right now. We are making sure that we are listening to voters’ concerns and addressing them. The biggest confusion so far has been third-party companies sending out mailers. If the address on the outside of the envelope does not say Duplin County Board of Elections, it is most likely coming from a third-party organization. We ask that if any voters have questions about their registration status, they reach out to us in the office.
How does the election office stop someone from illegally voting in the name of a voter who has died or moved but has not yet been removed from the rolls? How does your office keep voter rolls clean?
Voter ID is required in North Carolina; that is the most important safeguard to keep someone from voting under anyone’s name other than their own. Keeping voter rolls clean is a year-round task. Some tasks are performed daily, while others are performed weekly. Duplin County continues to perform all required list maintenance procedures which ensures that all deceased voters are removed in a timely manner.
With so many registration drives all over the county, can you explain how the process works? Are those registrations submitted to the local Board of Elections for vetting? What happens to voter registration forms that don’t provide a driver’s license number or the last four digits of a Social Security number?
Registrations from registration drives are submitted either directly to our office or to the State Board of Elections. All registrations get scanned into our system and processed as they are received. If there is any significant change noted on a registration from a registration drive to an existing voter, we send out a letter to notify the voter before any changes are made to their record. If someone does not put a license number or the last four of their social security on the application, that registration will then be put into a queue in our system, and an incomplete letter is issued to the registrant notifying them that their registration is not complete until they provide that information to our office.
How do officials know that a legitimate voter has cast their ballot? Are there gaps in the chain of custody?
All methods of voting require a photo ID. When appearing to vote in person, a precinct official will check that ID to make sure that the picture resembles the person presenting to vote. In terms of Absentee by Mail, voters also must mail in a copy of their ID, sign their envelope, and have either two witnesses or one notary sign off and attest to that voter filling out that ballot and sealing it into the envelope. When absentee ballots arrive in our office, they are stamped with the date they are received, they are electronically checked into the system, and assigned to an Absentee Board Meeting date. They are then put away in a secure, locked area until they are to be reviewed by the multi-partisan Board of Elections. Absentee ballots remain sealed until the Board is ready to review them at their Absentee Meeting. We take chain of custody very seriously and ensure that we follow the laws set forth by the State of North Carolina and the Constitution.
For more information, call the Duplin County Board of Elections Office at 910-296-2170.
The Duplin County Sheriff’s Office recently issued a statement warning the public about increasing email scams and things people can do to protect themselves.
Scammers use social engineering to gain trust and redirect funds, so it’s crucial to be cautious and mindful of all your financial dealings. Some common occurrences to be aware of include real estate closings, where scammers impersonate the identity of the title/real estate agent or closing attorney and send different payment details; vendor impersonation, where scammers pose as representatives of a company or government agency advising the victim that an invoice must be paid immediately to avoid a negative consequence; scammers will also impersonate a CEO or executive of a company and request that an employee within the accounting or finance department transfer funds to an attacker-controlled account.
The Sheriff’s Office advises the public to verify and confirm details with the parties involved, especially regarding messages about funds transfers. Using a different method to confirm the sender’s identity is essential, such as calling or texting an associated phone number or communicating on a trusted mobile app or chat channel, as some scammers use hacked email accounts. Additionally, be cautious of email addresses that closely resemble legitimate ones you have communicated with in the past, as this is a common tactic used by scammers.
The addition or removal of a single character in an email address may be difficult to spot at first glance, stated the alert, providing the following examples:
Google.com vs. Google.corn: In this case, the scammer replaced .com with .corn, with the letters “r” and “n”replacing the letter “m”
JONDOE@BUSINESS vs. JON.D0E@BUSlNESS in this example, the scammer used a zero instead of a capital O and added a period between “JON” and “D0E”. They also used a lowercase “L” in place of capital “i”
According to law enforcement, fraudulent emails may contain a subject line or phrases that denote urgency. If you receive an urgent or confidential email, carefully review it for accuracy and reach out directly to the individual to confirm the request.
Sheriff Stratton Stokes reminds the public to remain vigilant. “Along with all the other scams, please remember emails and social media can be another way that predators strike.”
KENANSVILLE — At the Sept.16 meeting, the Board of County Commissioners held the first of two public hearings required to apply for a Community Development Block Grant Neighborhood Revitalization to help homeowners.
The state grant would cover housing and infrastructure related to housing, such as new utility services, streets, flood and drainage improvements, sidewalks, and pedestrian ways. Additionally, it can include public facilities such as shelters, community centers, or recreation centers. To qualify, the project must meet one of three national objectives. It must benefit low and moderate-income individuals, prevent or eliminate slums and blight, or address other urgent needs — often storm or disaster-related.
The program can involve housing rehabilitation or demolition and reconstruction of existing homes. The homes selected for inclusion in the program must be owned and occupied by low and moderate-income individuals. The income eligibility is on a sliding scale depending on the number of people living in the home.
The next step after the second public hearing will require the board to establish a housing selection committee to choose the houses based on federal criteria.
A list of individuals who meet the requirements was underway at the meeting time, and surveys involving house visits, gathering information, taking photos, and documenting issues were conducted.
The surveys will be utilized for the application. Upon grant approval, the funds are provided to the county. The homeowner then has to sign a deed of trust, giving the county a lien on the property for eight years. During this time, no payments are required on the lien. However, if the homeowner tries to sell the home within that period, they would owe money to the county.
If a program participant were to die and the heir is not considered low or moderate income, the county could try to recoup funds. The second public hearing will be held at the Oct. 7 meeting.
In other business:
The board approved a motion to change the name of James O. Horne Lane to Teaberry Lane in Cypress Creek Township.
The board adopted the FY 2026 Program Resolution authorizing applications for federal and state funding for the transportation department. One would cover administrative costs, the other one would provide federal money to fund trips for the elderly and disabled, and the third one would cover a replacement vehicle.
The board approved a motion to create a new animal services center manager position.
The Duplin County Sheriff’s Office, in collaboration with Duplin County EMS, recently conducted rapid deployment training at the DCSO training center in Rose Hill.
The annual training, a crucial component in the readiness of both teams, is designed to prepare them for potential active shooter scenarios, bomb threats and other critical situations.
“We’re working in conjunction with each other, because we know that both our office staff and EMS are going to be on scene for critical incidents. So, we want to make sure that everybody is training on the same page,” said Ben Parrish, Duplin County Sheriff’s Office instructor, adding that their rapid deployment training falls under the rescue task force concept.
Two first responders get hands-on training in a school-like environment during rapid deployment training at the Baptist Mission Center. Photo Courtesy Dustin Swinson
“So, instead of waiting to get victims out, we go ahead and send EMS personnel in with a security team to start evacuating wounded personnel,” said Parrish. “They’ve got what it’s called the golden hour to get treatment and we want to make sure that they get to that treatment as quickly as possible.”
The training incorporated the Kenansville Police Department as well, demonstrating a comprehensive approach to public safety. According to Parrish, the Kenansville Police Department recently took over the security of Kenansville Elementary School, and the collaboration ensures all the training is consistent across the board.
Parrish shared that the training includes two components, tactical and life-saving skills.
“We prepare our officers to confront the threat either individually or as a team as soon as possible,” said Parrish, adding that the sooner the threat is stopped, the sooner lives can be saved. “We try to stay on top of it, working with our local, state, and federal partners to mitigate the chance of something like that happening.”
The teams started the day at the training center. Parrish explained that in the morning, the EMS training coordinator taught all the deputies life-saving skills from first aid and CPR to how to use a defibrillator. “All the life-saving skills they would need as first responders,” he clarified adding that the training is hands-on, with participants learning how to bandage wounds and stop bleeding.
The afternoon session, which took place at the Baptist Mission Center, was exclusively focused on tactical training for neutralizing threats.
“They were kind enough to allow us to conduct our training there, because it is still an active site. It’s used daily and it looks lived in,” said Parrish, explaining that the realistic setting, unlike a bare warehouse, provides officers and EMTs with a school-like environment, enhancing the realism of their training.
With the rapid deployment training, EMS learns how to use what they call mega-movers to move injured personnel.
“It’s basically a big sack; they can lay the patient down on it, and it’s got handles on it so they can drag them down the hallway back to the point that they entered. And pass that patient off to somebody on the outside who can go ahead and immediately start taking them to get treatment. And they carry tourniquets, bandages, all that kind of good stuff,” he said.
Duplin County Sheriff’s Office Instructor Ben Parrish instructs officers and EMTs during rapid deployment training. Photo Courtesy Dustin Swinson
Parrish explained that the training also prepares EMS personnel to work in tandem with a security element. This ensures their safety and allows them to focus on their life-saving duties, knowing that the threat is being managed.
Additionally, the Sheriff’s Office provides crisis management training for all school staff, including bus drivers, kitchen workers, and everyone else in the school system, to educate them on responding to active shooter situations.
“We teach them how to react and what to do to keep themselves safe,” said Parrish. “We teach them the same way the federal government recommends training be done for active assailants or active incident situations, in that they’re taught to run, hide, fight.”
Parrish explained that they teach participants to follow an action plan recommended by the Department of Homeland Security that emphasizes the “run, hide, fight” approach. He explained that if they can run and escape safely, they should do so. If they need to hide because the assailant is nearby, they should do their best to conceal themselves. As a last resort, they should be prepared to fight to protect themselves, said Parrish.
He also explained that this training is essential because in some countries, edged weapons are the weapon of choice, and it’s crucial for everyone to know how to react in such dangerous situations.
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