This fall marks the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Matthew’s devastating impact on Lumberton and much of eastern North Carolina. Our community is still recovering and still rebuilding from Matthew and from Hurricane Florence in 2018 — two 1,000-year storms in just the last half decade. Three years ago, after Florence rains lifted the Lumber River up to 20 feet, I joined with neighbors running supplies by boat to people who were trying to survive the worst of it, whose lives and homes were upended by the storm. It was particularly difficult knowing that the community had identified some solutions after Matthew, but these plans had been delayed and obstructed. Mother Nature doesn’t wait around.

In Lumberton, we leaned into our collective capacity for compassion and innovation. We set about planning and implementing strategies that will help protect us when the next hurricane or heavy rain event comes through (and it will).

In mid-July, work got underway on the $9.8 million Tanglewood Drainage Project, which will help decrease flooding in crucial areas of town and, among other benefits, will help ensure that emergency vehicles are not impeded during the times they are needed most. Additionally, the city is continuing to work with stakeholders to get floodgates around the city in place; we are now in the design phase for this $5.3 million project. While the process has been slow, it has more momentum than ever before.

During Hurricane Matthew, Lumberton lost our water supply after 4 feet of floodwaters covered our drinking water plant. We are taking major steps to ensure that never happens again. Already, the city has completed the construction of a $1.6 million berm around the water plant, with funding from FEMA’s Hazardous Mitigation Grant Program. In addition, we will elevate our raw water intake pump and facilities and relocate three wells outside the 100-year flood plain thanks to grant assistance from Golden LEAF Foundation and the state’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund.

On July 30, Gov. Roy Cooper announced that Lumberton has been awarded a loan of $2.8 million from the state’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund. These funds will help us make improvements to our wastewater system — a crucial need exposed by Hurricane Florence. The project will include elevating several sewer pump stations above the 100-year flood plain.

Meanwhile, NC State University has helped with planning work on a project that, if implemented, would transform some of Lumberton’s most vulnerable areas into 800+ acres of recreational spaces and nature-based infrastructure they call the “Lumberton Loop.” It will double as a container for flood waters during heavy storms.

In other words, we have plenty of solid plans on how to make Lumberton, Robeson County, and all of eastern North Carolina as prepared as possible for future storms and prevent the tragic loss of life or further economic devastation. But in order to put these plans into action, lawmakers in Raleigh and Washington, D.C., have to follow through on promises to make flood resilience a top priority.

So far, it looks like they are. I am very optimistic that the resources our communities need to make these ideas reality will soon be available. State and federal lawmakers from both parties have lifted up the need for responsible investment in storm resiliency and flood reduction projects, and two specific efforts are in delicate negotiation stages.

At the federal level, bipartisan talks continue over what might be included in a sorely needed infrastructure bill. Sen. Thom Tillis, Rep. Dan Bishop and others from North Carolina have touted hurricane recovery and resiliency as an urgent priority — let’s encourage them to continue fighting and reaching across the aisle to ensure proposed funding for wastewater systems and other infrastructure projects remains in the final bill.

In the North Carolina General Assembly, leaders from areas hit hardest by intensifying storms are coming together and leading the way on securing the resources our communities need to prevent future harms. On the House side, Republican Rep. John Bell from Wayne County sponsored House Bill 500, the Disaster Mitigation and Relief Act of 2021, and was joined by a slew of fellow Republican and Democratic co-sponsors from across the state. Robeson County’s Rep. Brenden Jones, a Republican, is a primary co-sponsor and Lumberton’s Rep. Charles Graham, a Democrat, is also a sponsor. In the Senate, Sen. Danny Britt has been a crucial voice elevating this issue. There are more, but the names are too numerous to list.

That’s a lot of momentum, and we need these folks to keep pressing and for others to join the effort. The next storm could be right around the corner, so there is no better or more urgent time to give eastern North Carolina communities the ability to lift ourselves out of harm’s way.