In 1899, Diamond City residents fled a hurricane. A storm Saturday blocked a reunion
A severe hurricane that made landfall
Every five years, in an effort to remember where they come from and who they are, the descendants of Diamond City sail back across Back Sound to Wade's
This year's reunion comes less than a year after another storm, Hurricane Florence, battered
"My grandparents left (Diamond City) in 1899 because the tide took them," said
Leaving Diamond City
Residents of Diamond City began talking about leaving
That storm, Stick wrote, marked a turning point, with residents deciding the time had come to leave.
Stick wrote, "It only took two or three days to move a house, and 30 or 40 men would join in helping; no money changed hands as it would today, for the same people would pitch in together and move your house for you, when your turn came; only the person whose house was being moved was supposed to provide something to eat -- a lot of something to eat, too, for 30 or 40 hungry men."
Marcom recently made arrangements for her
As Florence neared last fall and she prepared to leave home, Marcom stood on her back porch, looking across Back Sound to
"Not only was it a storm, but it was bad enough they're going to have to uproot themselves," Marcom said, later adding that after Florence, "I remember thinking, 'If they could do it, I can do it. I'll come back and whatever's here, we'll rebuild.' It's just important to bounce back and be resilient and be a part of that."
'This place and these people'
Saturday's reunion marked the first event at the
The education center doesn't have a carpet, hollowing out the room's acoustics and leading Saturday's speakers to ask for as much silence as possible. On a day with driving rain, though, it offered a dry place.
"It's still important to be here because of the heritage that's here. It's not the finest building you'll ever see, and it's full of sheetrock dust and all kinds of dust and no carpet on the floor," Marcom said. "But it's home, and that's the most important."
Down a side hallway from the education center where the Diamond City reunion was held Saturday is an exhibition hall. When Hurricane Florence reached
The museum's repairs will include replacing much of the sheetrock in that hall. But one strip of the back wall stands untouched, with three words painted in red on white backing: Response, Recovery and Resilience.
Those concepts, Amspacher said, are something the descendants of Diamond City can help newcomers to
"If you're coming to buy land as an investment, buy it in
Amspacher continued, "You're going to have to learn to work with this environment, because there's not enough money on the planet to keep an ocean back."
This story was produced with financial support from Report for
___
(c)2019 The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.)
Visit The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) at www.newsobserver.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
New Elite Drone Technology from Strategic Response Partners Helps Businesses Recover After a Natural Disaster
Times-Call guest opinions | [email protected] |: Paula MartinWiped out by health care costs
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News