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Hard-hit North Carolina county slowly recoversEmergency supplies help residents without power
By Bryan Long
EDENTON, North Carolina (CNN) -- With sweat dripping down his forehead, Eddie McNair passed out bags of ice two at a time to an anxious crowd. Residents of Edenton, North Carolina, gathered Saturday afternoon in the hospital parking lot for ice, bottled water and meals ready to eat. In the neighborhoods around the hospital and across Chowan County, people survived their third day without power. When the eastern portion of Hurricane Isabel's eye swept over Albemarle Sound on Thursday, the storm surge flooded Edenton. Dozens of houses lost roofs or porches to the winds. A radio tower snapped in half. Nearby Elizabeth City suffered a similar fate. Downtown roads were flooded, along with a local landmark, Pelican Marina. Along the backroads of North Carolina, around rivers, harbors and sounds, pine trees still litter yards and some roadways. All roads but one leading into Edenton were still closed Saturday. Isabel knocked out power early Thursday, and crews have been working since that afternoon to restore it. By Saturday, pockets of electricity were popping up, but much of eastern North Carolina still lay dark. Despite the inconvenience, Carol Morring said she has been blessed. "I'm surviving," she said. Morring had just picked up two cases of bottled water and two cases of the U.S. Army's vacuum-packaged meals, courtesy of Chowan County Emergency Management. Until recently, she was preparing food on an outdoor grill. But that had its limits. "No power. No ice. No food. It's spoiling like a fish," Morring said. "It's so hot, y'know." Morring eventually turned to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, Vienna sausages and just about anything else she could find canned. She's glad she didn't evacuate from Gramby's Trailer Park. "I stayed right in my home," Morring said. "I didn't leave my sanctuary because it was mine. God gave it to me."
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