Robeson, Bladen, Columbus, and Scotland counties avoided the worst of Winter Storm Fern last weekend, but freezing temperatures continue to pose dangers.
Three shelters in Robeson County opened ahead of last week’s storm—Lumberton Christian Care Center, Eden Global Ministries, and Robeson County Community Church and Community Center. They operated as white flag shelters that open whenever temperatures dip into the low 30s or colder.
But Levi Hooker, director of the Lumberton Christian Care Center, said the organization’s shelter will likely operate continuously until mid-February. Five people stayed at the center over the weekend, he said.
The center opens from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. when temperatures are freezing. If dangerous cold persists throughout the day, however, Hooker said people won’t be forced to leave. “I’d never put them out like that.”
Facts of Life Church in Whiteville will operate a shelter at its gymnasium through this week, Pastor Daisy Brooks said. She said she and her team of volunteers are prepared to also use the church building as a shelter if the gym reaches its 25-person capacity. Twenty people stayed at the shelter over the weekend, she said.
Bitter cold temperatures aren’t going away anytime soon.
“Temperatures well below normal through at least the next seven days will result in periods of dangerously low wind chill temperatures,” the National Weather Service in Wilmington said Wednesday.
Forecasters predict that high temperatures won’t climb out of the low 40s on Thursday, with overnight lows in the 20s. Even colder temperatures are expected this weekend, with highs in the low- to mid-30s. Saturday night lows could dip into the teens.
The region could see snow after 1 a.m. Saturday and into late Saturday night, forecasters said.
“We survived one, and now we start preparing for the next one,” Robert Sampson, Scotland County’s emergency management coordinator, said Tuesday of winter storms. “I’ll be monitoring the weather briefings and all that we’ll get from the National Weather Service in Raleigh daily, and that will help us in our preparation process.”
Help With Utility Bills
Utility customers struggling to pay their heating bills can apply for help through the federal Low Income Energy Assistance and Crisis Intervention programs. Funds are allocated to counties’ social services departments each year.
About a week and a half before Winter Storm Fern hit, Scotland County had spent almost half of the $427,000 it received this year for the Low Income Energy Assistant program, according to data presented at the county’s Department of Health and Human Services Advisory Council meeting on January 20. The county had spent more than 31% of the $282,000 it received for the Crisis Intervention Program.
The funding ideally is supposed to last until March 31, Chassidy Laws, the department’s energy program director, told the council.
By the end of last year’s season, the county had a little less than $2,000 of its Low Income Energy Assistance funding remaining, according to data. It had a little over $61,000 left in Crisis Intervention Program funding. The money does not roll over to the following year.
Last year, Scotland county received about 1,300 applications for the programs.
The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina’s Department of Energy said it extended its Heating Assistance Program and is accepting applications until February 2.
The Lumbee River Electric Membership Corporation also has an energy assistance program, providing up to $150 to eligible members once a year. To apply, customers should reach out to community service agencies, including Robeson County Community Church and Community Center and Scotland County Community Services.
During Winter Storm Fern, Scotland County opened a warming center in Scotland High School’s gymnasium. But no one used the center, Sampson said.
Sacred Pathways, a nonprofit in Pembroke, also opened a winter shelter during the storm and closed it at 6 a.m. Monday.