Contracting company provides neighborly assist

Neighbors and church groups have fanned out since Sunday to help those left with destroyed houses and debris-strewn neighborhoods.

Trader Construction, a heavy civil contracting company, is one of those lending a helping hand. Tuesday the company provided crews with chainsaws, a backhoe and bulldozer to help clean up the debris in the Falcon Bridge subdivision, one of the hardest hit areas.

Steve Tyson, chairman of the Craven County Board of Commission, said Falcon Bridge does not have state maintained roads. While he was visiting the destruction Sunday and asking people what the county could do for them, some of the residents said they wished they could get the debris cleaned up.

Tyson called Trader Construction to get an estimate. He thought he could raise private donations to help get the debris cleaned, he said.

“They (Trader Construction) went by there and said they would remove the trash and haul it to the county landfill for fee,” Tyson said. “I think it is incredible.”

Bill Taylor, the equipment manager of Trader Construction, said he and his workers volunteering their resources to Falcon Bridge was the least they could do.

“We are located about eight miles from where the storm hit,” Taylor said. “We just wanted to give a helping hand to our neighbors.”

Carl Huddle, president of Trader Construction, said his company, has been in New Bern for 50 years and many of the employees worked in surrounding counties that were affected by the storm.

“We are just joining in with what all of the other neighbors there are doing,” Huddle said. “There are several volunteers in there. We, being neighbors, thought we should chip in as well.”

Samuel Moore, an independent adjustor, stood on a roof of a damaged house in Falcon Bridge Tuesday trying to assess the damage while being surrounded by it.

“This is bad,” he said. “Some of the homes are worse than others. There is a lot of roof damage and roof structure damage everywhere.”

Eddie Fitzgerald can be reached at 252-635-5675 or at efitzgerald@freedomenc.com.