Shops are people

Manmade bridge to the front door of a flooded house that Nick Martin and others worked on.

I may have sounded like a broken record for the past couple years when it comes to storms and work. We keep experiencing the effects of hurricanes, and they always change our business. Last year we got a lot of work from the aftermath of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. The year before we missed several days of work due to Hurricane Matthew and its historic flooding. It comes with the territory, but this year was different. My hometown of New Bern, N.C., was smacked pretty hard by Hurricane Florence. The stress of this storm has changed a lot about how I view hurricanes and how I will prepare for them with work and with family.

I’ve been through a lot of hurricanes over the years. They’re all different, and each comes with its own story. Hurricane Florence definitely was one to remember. It was a strong Category 4 storm off the coast that pretty much scared half of coastal North Carolina out of its borders.

We kept an eye on Florence, but honestly didn’t pay that much attention to it. These storms are constantly changing, and you have to respect them. My wife stocked up on plenty of nonperishable groceries, so we would be good for several days if we lost power at the house. Besides, people were running for the bread and milk long before we were in the direct path.

Florence was expected to hit on a Thursday, so my dad and I were going to work most of the week. At least that was the plan. Monday came, and we were pretty busy. We had a large ductwork job (Figures 1 and 2) in the shop. When I say large, I mean sizewise, a lot bigger than we are used to dealing with. The pieces of duct barely fit through our rollup door. On Tuesday we had another normal workday and kept watch on the storm. I checked the forecast several times an hour, and it was beginning to look more favorable for losing speed. That was a good sign.

On Wednesday, with the help of Justin Mullins, our laser operator, we found time to get the shop’s portable generator running properly before I would take it home. I had to have something in case things got bad. It seemed to be running OK. Now, I just needed a nice drop cord that could work in my 220 outlet at home. We happened to have the correct 230-V, 30-amp plug end in a drawer, so that made things easier. Little did we know that in the coming days, that plug end would be worth its weight in gold. We just needed the other end to make up a nice cord.

Dad held a short meeting with the shop crew and told them about what was going on. They all knew the drill. He basically said that we might not be able to come to work for a few days if the conditions were bad. He and I live closer to the coast and normally get cut off by flooding on some of the roads. The plan was for the shop to be closed on Friday only.

We made sure to tie up any loose ends at the shop and ensure that the fellas were prepared for work to resume. Everyone wished each other good luck, and we went on our way. Needing the other end of the plug, dad and I stopped at Lowe’s on the way home. Several people were in the electrical aisle doing exactly what we were doing. I had the large 230-V plug end in my hand, and another guy asked where I got it. I told him it was from the shop, and he said, “What shop!?” My dad laughed and said it was his shop, and that we were lucky because there was only one left in the drawer. That guy was prepared to drive wherever to buy one. After we got back to New Bern, dad came by the house to help me get the cord wired up. We then realized we had purchased the wrong plug end at Lowe’s, so we were going to run out in the morning to get one.

Luckily, that Thursday morning we found one at Longley Supply Co. Another gentleman we knew was in the store, trying to purchase the same 230-V plug that we had from the shop. The store was sold out, and a clerk told me we’d be lucky to find one in eastern North Carolina. Who knew that little fella would be worth so much!

Everyone was doing last-minute hurricane prep work, and the town was starting to shut down. People were boarding up their windows and hunkering down.

Even though a lot of people were evacuating, we decided to stay and ride it out like most of the people we know. That’s kind of what North Carolinians do. Some may think we’re crazy. Who knows. Most of the storms start to weaken by the time they reach New Bern. Judging by the forecast, that’s what Florence was going to do.

Fig. 1: Large duct work leaving the shop before Florence hit.

The storm started Thursday afternoon and by then it was downgraded to a Category 2 starting to impact the coast. The weather forecasters predicted it would be a Category 1 by the time it got to New Bern. Honestly, I was pretty relieved and didn’t think I was going to lose power or need to use the generator. Yeah, who was I kidding. Our power went out almost immediately and we lit the candles.

The winds gusted and howled in waves, and my family tried to make the most of our time in the dark. Florence was downgraded to a Category 1 around 3 a.m. The next morning I went out in the rain to assess the damage; we were fortunate to have little damage compared to many others. The only problem now was that the storm was just sitting there dumping rain on New Bern and pushing water upriver. We had another solid day of this mess coming our way, and we were starting to get a little worried.

I had several buckets in the attic catching leaks to minimize damage. We went through a ton of towels at the back door trying to keep the rain out. The wind and rain had warped the door and casing, and water was leaking in steadily. We had a few other minor issues, but like I said, for all the damage that was going on around town, we were very lucky.

We still had cell service, so we were checking the local news. Most of downtown New Bern and surrounding areas were flooding. The devastation was surreal. Storm surges were expected to reach record levels.

It continued to rain all day Friday. Family, friends, and co-workers checked on us throughout the storm. I got texts and calls from some people I haven’t heard from in years. They all told me New Bern was on the national news stations. “It looks like y’all are getting pounded.” I heard it all. People were being rescued from the water all over town. No one was ready for this amount of water.

Pictures didn’t do the conditions justice. On Saturday everyone started to venture out of their homes, or what was left of them. I drove around and saw some of the damage; I had no words for what I was seeing. There were boats in the middle of fields and muck lines above garage doors. Downtown New Bern had several large boats scattered about, and one marina was completely ruined. You could look out in the river and see sailboat masts poking out of the water.

When we inquired about the shop, we heard it had barely rained there. My co-workers had never lost power and were ready to go back to work.

We did plenty of cleanup on the weekend for friends and family, but it was just the beginning. Cleaning up was going to go on for weeks, if not months.

Monday rolled around, and dad and I went back to work. We all exchanged stories about the hurricane and went on about our day. No one could believe that I still did not have power at home. Most of the people I knew who lost it were out for roughly two and a half days.

Our route to work for the next several days changed constantly due to road closures from flooding. President Trump even came to little old New Bern. He helped hand out food at a local church and made his rounds in the community. It was a very nice gesture. People around town were excited that he was there and were motivated to rebuild. Our mayor, Dana Outlaw, made his rounds with the president, receiving praise for his great work in our community.

Fig. 2: More of the large duct work job leaving the shop after Florence.

Later Mayor Outlaw received a call from the Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera, who asked him to be a guest at the next game. He was asked to lead the stadium with the giant “Keep Pounding” drum.

Back at the house, living the generator life was not fun. It is very expensive, and you must time out your tanks of gas just right. I found myself up around three or four in the morning quite often, dripping with sweat and making my way back outside to the generator to top off the gas. Our neighborhood had a constant hum to it.

Long story short—our little shop generator bit the dust. I borrowed one from a friend whose power had been restored, and the gas tank on this unit cracked. My friend Allen Williamson borrowed a brand-new CAT generator from his neighbor. That thing was great, but by day seven of no power, I was ready to beef things up. Dad insisted that we get the portable Miller welding generator to my house and see if we could get the AC going with a little more power.

After a trip to a local electric supply company, we made up another cord to work with the generator. This time everything lined up correctly and we were able to get some more power pumping to the house. Fans were working, and we got a little AC as well. Spoiled we were, except the Miller generator was much thirstier than the CAT. Luckily, we had to go only another day or so without power. Nine days was a long time to be without electricity.

Again, I’m not complaining. I had to help my brother-in-law, Ashley Mangum, throw out most of his belongings that were destroyed in the flood. He lost his home due to flooding, as did nearly every single neighbor on his street. The curbside was stacked head high with drywall, insulation, couches, appliances, toys, and irreplaceable memories. It was hard to look at. My wife and I offered him and his daughter a place to stay until they could get back on their feet. Thankfully, they took us up on the offer. We have a couple extra roommates for a month or two and are looking forward to our time together.

What does this have to do with metal fabrication? Look around your shop. An event such as this could affect you or any of your co-workers. Experiencing it definitely changed me for the better. You have to put yourself in someone else's shoes sometimes and realize they may not be as lucky as you. Our community will rebuild. It takes time. Until then I will “keep pounding” forward and make the best of what Hurricane Florence has done to me.

All images courtesy of Nick Martin, Barnes MetalCrafters.